Haslam wants quicker national online tax rules

Friday, August 19, 2011, Vol. 35, No. 33

JOHNSON CITY (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam says there are varying views among Tennessee's congressional delegation about the urgency for national rules governing the collection of online sales tax collections by retailers like Amazon.com.

Haslam told reporters after a speech in Johnson City on Thursday that he's hoping for a national solution within the next two years. Fellow Republican U.S. Sen. Bob Corker said earlier this week that it could take up to four years for Congress to act.

Haslam said Sen. Lamar Alexander, a former two-term governor, understands the need to deal with the online sales tax question more rapidly. But the governor said some members of the state's nine-member delegation in the U.S. House "aren't so sure why it's important."

Amazon is building three distribution centers in Tennessee, employing more than 1,200.