House Bill 1483

    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                HM 1483

        By Representative Sanderson






  1                          House Memorial

  2         A memorial to the Congress of the United States

  3         requesting Congress to enact legislation

  4         prohibiting the United States Postal Service

  5         from selling nonmonopoly goods and services.

  6

  7         WHEREAS, the United States Postal Service has recently

  8  embarked upon a number of programs pursuant to which the

  9  Postal Service engages in nonpostal businesses and sells many

10  nonpostal goods and services at post offices, including

11  clothing, mugs, novelty items, photocopying services,

12  packaging materials, and other nonpostal goods and services,

13  and

14         WHEREAS, various state and local governments have

15  enacted sales and use taxes on the sale or consumption of

16  goods or services within their states or their various

17  political subdivisions, and

18         WHEREAS, the Postal Service does not collect and remit

19  state or local sales and use taxes on its sale of nonpostal

20  goods or services, and

21         WHEREAS, the Postal Service bases its noncollection of

22  sales and use taxes on the "supremacy clause" of the United

23  States Constitution and the doctrine of intergovernmental tax

24  immunity, and

25         WHEREAS, the sale of nonpostal goods or services by the

26  Postal Service is not in accordance with the performance of a

27  governmental function, but rather is the type of activity

28  engaged in by private enterprises that are subject to state

29  and local sales and use taxes, and

30         WHEREAS, the practice by the Postal Service of selling

31  nonpostal goods and services while at the same time not

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                HM 1483

    228-204-99






  1  collecting and remitting sales and use taxes on the sale of

  2  such nonpostal goods and services puts local taxpaying

  3  retailers selling similar items at an economic disadvantage

  4  and has a negative impact on state and local treasuries as a

  5  result of the loss of tax revenues that would otherwise be

  6  received, NOW, THEREFORE,

  7

  8  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

  9

10         That the House of Representatives of the State of

11  Florida hereby requests the United States Congress to enact

12  legislation to prohibit the sale by the United States Postal

13  Service of such nonmonopoly-related goods and services and

14  prohibit further service offerings and advertisements by the

15  United States Postal Service in areas where the general public

16  is presently served by private industry.

17         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

18  sent to each member of the Florida delegation to the United

19  States Congress, to the Vice President of the United States in

20  his capacity as the President of the Senate, to the Speaker of

21  the United States House of Representatives, to the Clerk of

22  the United States House of Representatives, to the Secretary

23  of the United States Senate, and to the Postmaster General of

24  the United States.

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