Gov. Jerry Brown signs Amazon sales tax collection law

Saying it would save existing jobs and create new ones, Gov. Jerry Brown (D-CA) signed into law legislation to require Amazon and many other out-of-state Internet retailers to collect sales taxes on purchases by California customers.

The new law will "create tens of thousands of jobs and inject hundreds of millions of dollars back into critical services like education and public safety in future years," Gov Brown said at a ceremony held at the San Francisco headquarters of clothier Gap. The event was attended by the lawmakers, who sponsored the bill, and retail industry executives. Experts predicted that the new law would help bricks-and-mortar stores that have sales staffs compete with e-commerce companies that need fewer people to fill orders. They also predicted that new jobs would flow into the state if Amazon, as expected, opens some large distribution centers to better serve California, which is estimated to represent as much as 20% of the company's market. Although the bill, AB 155 by Assemblyman Charles Calderon (D-Whittier), takes effect immediately, it doesn't require that sales taxes be collected from Californians until Sept. 15 of next year. The delay was part of a compromise put together by Amazon with representatives of national retailing chains, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp., as well as local, independent store owners.

Amazon plans to spend $500 million to open large distribution centers and other facilities in California that would create 10,000 full-time jobs — ones that carry such benefits as health insurance.