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On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Mary Boyle to serve as a commissioner of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) by a vote of 50-48. For the first time since late October 2019, when then-Acting Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle departed the agency, the Commission will have a full complement of five commissioners. And, most notably, for the first time since May 2018, the Democrats will hold a voting majority.     

As soon as Ms. Boyle is sworn in, she will join Democratic Commissioners Alexander Hoehn-Saric and Richard Trumka Jr. and Republicans Dana Baiocco and Peter Feldman. As we wrote last July when President Biden announced her nomination, Ms. Boyle is well known to the product safety community. She knows the inner-workings of the CPSC as well as anybody as she has served most recently as the agency’s Executive Director. She has also served as the agency’s acting General Counsel. Interestingly, Ms. Boyle is the second Executive Director of the agency recently nominated for the Commission, as President Obama nominated then-Executive Director Elliot Kaye to be Chairman.Continue Reading Senate Confirms Mary Boyle to CPSC; Democrats Reclaim Majority

The CapitolLast week, the Senate broke Congressional silence by passing Resolution 101 – enunciating the chamber’s position on how the country should approach the burgeoning technology of the “Internet of Things,” or what’s more commonly known as the “IoT.” Amidst a series of recent hearings in both the House and the Senate, the IoT industry and…

Legislation passed by the U.S. Senate on May 6, 2013 would impose sales tax collection obligations on retailers with no physical presence in a state but would not provide a needed income tax safe harbor. 

In what may prove to be one of its most bi-partisan moments in recent years, the U.S. Senate passed S. 743 (The Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013) by a large margin: 69 – 27. The Bill would require remote sellers with more than $1 million in total sales to collect sales taxes in states that adopt sales tax simplification measures. These simplification measures require one-stop tax compliance, one-stop auditing, standardization of what is subject to tax, and 90-day notice of rate changes. 

Logic tells us that virtually every state will adopt these sales tax simplification measures, at least for remote sellers. This is a development that over time may lead to sales tax simplification for all sellers.    
Continue Reading Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013: Where Is The Income Tax Safe Harbor?