The Rhode Island legislature, in its latest moneygrubbing bid to suck up every dime that isn’t nailed, glued and welded down, has passed a bill requiring Internet companies including Amazon to collect, report and pay sales tax in Rhode Island. This is true even though Amazon has no offices in Rhode Island. The reason given for this misguided and unconstitutional legislation is that Rhode Island has decided that Amazon’s affiliates are de facto offices in the state.

As a result, Amazon has closed all Rhode Island affiliate accounts. Including yours. (Go ahead. I’ll just wait here while you check your account.) You will no longer receive any commissions for the sale of books from your website.

Most Amazon affiliates are small businesses, entrepreneurs and individuals who are trying to create multiple small streams of income. And why are they trying to do that? Because many of them cannot find work in the area, have no unemployment benefits, and are trying to cobble together a living.

While the official unemployment rate is over 10% in Rhode Island, that official rate does not include those whose unemployment benefits have run out, who are struggling along in part-time positions without benefits, and those who have just plain given up trying to find work in this benighted state. Some of the more entrepreneurial among these have worked hard to start online businesses, many of which provide income from affiliate programs from companies that include Amazon. For not a few Rhode Islanders, those affiliate programs provided a financial safety net.

And now the Rhode Island legislature has effectively taken away even that.

This is just another in a long string of anti-business moves made by our shortsighted state government. It seems our legislators won’t rest easy until every last business has shut its doors.

There is one thing you might do. If you agree that this legislation was a very bad idea, please find out if your state legislators voted in favor of it and let them know how you feel. Even better: stop voting for these chuckleheads! Throw them out of office and replace them with intelligent people who aren’t beholden to Rhode Island’s usual suspects.

Atlas is shrugging, folks.

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