As forewarned, the “affiliate nexus” language has been added to the state’s budget in an effort to generate more revenue for California.  So, we need support again!  LinkShare sent out a letter to all affiliates on behalf of the PMA, and Commission Junction sent out one of their own.  In part, the PMA email read:

You may remember the grass-roots campaign we waged in April, to defeat an anti-affiliate tax bill that would have a detrimental effect on affiliate programs. Even though we defeated that bill, it has been revived, in a desperate hope to help California’s budget crisis. The bill was originally defeated thanks to the affiliate community in California, who was responsible for convincing the sponsoring committee that this bill was a bad idea. Now it is time to repeat that stellar effort, because we have a few more people to convince.

So we need your assistance again!  Below is a list of important California officials that need to hear from you that this is a BAD idea!  Also below is the copy you can feel free to paste into the email you send to them!  Some folks are going back to Sacramento today to do what they can, and unfortunately I won’t be able to join them this time.  So I sent emails.  I checked these against the website and they all seem accurate even though several of mine bounced back, so I’m also including a link to their website’s contact form.  Note, however, that some won’t accept correspondence from an address outside their district, which I think is complete fail of the system, but that’s just me.

• Senator Lois Wolk – Senator.Wolk@senate.ca.gov – Contact Form
• Senator Darrell Steinberg – senator.steinberg@sen.ca.gov – Contact Form
• Senator Elaine Alquist – senator.alquist@sen.ca.gov – Contact Form
• Senator Roderick Wright – Senator.Wright@senate.ca.gov – Contact Form
• Senator Ronald Calderon – senator.calderon@sen.ca.gov – Contact Form
• Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod – senator.mcleod@sen.ca.gov – Contact Form
• Senator Lou Correa – senator.correa@sen.ca.gov – Contact Form
• Senator Denise Ducheny – Senator.Ducheny@senate.ca.gov – Contact Form
• Jennifer Kent (Gov. Schwarzenegger’s tax adviser; please address as “Ms. Kent”) – Jennifer.Kent@gov.ca.gov

Here is the email copy you can paste into the email.  Remember to edit the parts I’ve italicized in red below.  Commission Junction’s template can be found here.

Subject: OPPOSITION to Sales/Use Tax Nexus Bill (AB 178 Skinner)

Dear Senator [Insert Last Name]

I am a small business owner with a website, and I am in strong opposition to Sales/Use Tax Nexus Bill (AB 178 Skinner), which would require retailers that receive referrals from advertising on websites, such as mine, to collect sales tax in California.

I am opposed to this bill because it would substantially harm my small business by reducing a large source of revenue that I depend on to survive. This revenue results from providing advertising on my website on behalf of out-of-state retailers. [Describe briefly how your business model is set-up and what you contribute to the local economy.]

If retailers believe that doing business with me will result in their having to collect sales tax on all California sales, they likely will sever ties with my business, putting the viability of my business at risk. Such was the case in New York State where Overstock dismantled its affiliates program and hundreds of other business followed Overstock’s example. This left thousands of small and medium-sized affiliate businesses with a 50% loss of income.

Unfortunately, this bill is futile. If enacted, retailers will drop me as a partner, California won’t collect sales tax as a result – and my business will be devastated in the process.

For these reasons, I respectfully oppose this legislation.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]

Please be sure to spread the word to your fellow affiliates potentially affected by this bill!

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I had the pleasure and pain of driving up to Sacramento yesterday to sit in on the hearing for AB 178, which I’ve talked about before putting California affiliates in jeopardy.  Lisa Picarille and I hopped into my car and made the drive up, and about 10 minutes away from our destination, we get the news that the hearing had been postponed.  The bill has been changed to a two year bill.  What does this mean, exactly?

Believe it or not, I couldn’t find a sufficient actual definition for what a two year bill is online, so I can only pass on what I was told in basic layman’s terms, which may be better anyway.  Basically what this means is that the hearing has been postponed until January, when it will be up again to be heard in hearings.  We were told by several seasoned lobbyists that if it’s not heard in January, this bill in this current incarnation will be dead.  However, the issue won’t necessarily go away.  We will need to keep an eye out for other bills to make sure language isn’t shoehorned into other bills that could affect affiliate livelihood and tax nexus, and we also have to pay attention in June when budgeting starts to make sure no strange budget items that could affect nexus show up.

This is a small victory and California affiliates can certainly breath easier for awhile, but it’s not over yet.  We’ve won the battle but the war rages on.  Of course, there’s a lot of blog coverage on the happenings of yesterday, so check out their points of view as well:

• Mr. Lewis Goes to Sacramento – David Lewis
• Calif. AB 178 on Hold for Now – Lisa Picarille
• California Hearing Postponed – that’s a good thing! – Rebecca Madigan
• No Hearing for California AB 178 – Shawn Collins
• Commission Junction’s Internet Retail Tax News

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 Affiliate Marketing Fanatics Episode 5 [52:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Affiliate Marketing Fanatics – A Publisher (Mike Buechele) and an Affiliate Manager (Trisha Lyn Fawver) talk about all things Affiliate Marketing. From blogging to branding, social media to search, video and more!

We are a touch late with delivering last week’s show to you. I was out of my office away lobbying against California AB 178 on Tuesday and then at Web 2.0 Expo the rest of the week, so Mike and I took today to catch up on a few things. We start all business and devolve into my rant on the etiquette of booth staff at trade shows. So be sure to heed my words and stop, collaborate, and listen!

A few things we mention this week:

1. My second job as a California lobbyist against AB 178
2. Affiliate Voice: The Voice of the Affiliate Industry launched this week. Their president is Melanie Seery of NYAffiliateVoice.com
3. Twitter dropped their auto-follow service, so we took a look at 3rd party apps like Tweet Later.
4. Mike explored Max Banner Ads as an adserver for his blogs.
5. A brief recap of the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco and the tools I found potentially useful: StartForce, Safari Books Online, and GooseGrade
6. Another tech blog by our pals Sam Harrelson and Scott Jangro called Cloud39.com
7. Shout outs: Stephanie Lichtenstein’s awesome work on the #advertisingtax organization and Facebook group, and Daniel M. Clark’s great help via Twitter.

This episode comes in at a mouth watering 52 minutes.

Affiliate Marketing Fanatics Episode #5: Staring Down The Governator

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