{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=2d68ea4b-0490-49ea-91eb-3227b1718860", "National Retail Foundation Names Heitkamp Hero of Main Street", "2013-06-21", "2013", "2013-06", "Democrat", "House", "ND", "Heidi Heitkamp", "H001069", "www.heitkamp.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Contact: Todd Deutsch, 202.224.9921 \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\u00a0Washington, D.C. \u2013 In celebration of National Small Business Week, the National Retail Federation (NRF) named U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp a \u201cHero of Main Street.\u201d Heitkamp, a member of the Small Business Committee, recently led the charge to level the playing field for main street businesses by helping pass the Marketplace Fairness Act in the Senate. \r\n\"Today we salute a dedicated group of public servants and advocates for their outstanding support of the retail industry,\u201d NRF President and CEO\u00a0Matthew Shay\u00a0said. \u201cThese \u2018heroes\u2019 have all demonstrated a unique understanding and commitment to policies that will ensure a growing and thriving Main Street. NRF is pleased to acknowledge these specific Members of Congress for their unmatched leadership on the Marketplace Fairness Act.\u201d\r\n\u201cIt is an honor to be recognized as a \u2018Hero of Main Street,\u2019\u201d said Heitkamp. \u201cAs a member of the Small Business Committee, I will continue to craft policies to ensure North Dakota\u2019s main street businesses are able to thrive and compete on a level playing field. Small businesses are the lifeblood of our local economies and provide invaluable support to our local communities.\u201d \u00a0\r\nIn May, Heitkamp helped pass the Marketplace Fairness Act in a bipartisan fashion. The bill would allow states to collect the taxes they are already owed from remote sales. While most consumers are unaware, they are already legally required to pay a use tax on internet and catalog purchases. Compliance is very low, but consumers are supposed to fill out their online purchases on a state tax form.\r\nHeitkamp has been working on the issue for more than 20 years. In 1991, when Heitkamp was North Dakota\u2019s Tax Commissioner, the state of North Dakota attempted to make catalog retailers collect the sales tax the state and municipalities were already owed on sales. The debate went all the way to the Supreme Court, which found the U.S. Congress had the ultimate power to resolve the issue. Since then, the sharp increase in internet sales has sparked renewed interest from state and local governments in leveling the playing field for brick-and-mortar businesses and closing a gaping loophole in our tax system. The bill had wide bipartisan support in the Senate. During the recent Budget debate, a bipartisan majority of Senators expressed support for the Marketplace Fairness Act. It is also supported by Amazon.com, the National Governors Association, the National Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities.\u00a0\u00a0\r\nThe NRF is the largest association worldwide representing retailers in the United States and around the world. For more information on the NRF and commendation of Heitkamp, click here.\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u00a0\r\n-end-", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=2d68ea4b-0490-49ea-91eb-3227b1718860"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.1056937985122204, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}