In the vacuum left by traditional economic development and Wall Street’s approach to finance, investment cooperatives allow communities to put their capital to work in their local economy, catalyze the creation of new jobs, re-imagine their neighborhoods, and earn a return on their investment.… Read More
Community ownership of commercial spaces offers benefits that include new jobs in the neighborhood, strong incentives for people to shop locally, local sources for key goods, closer ties with neighbors, and in some cases, a return on investment.… Read More
Enacted at the end of 2014, the San Francisco Retail Workers Bill of Rights requires large retail and restaurant chains to give workers advance notice of their schedules and offer part-time employees access to more hours before hiring additional people.… Read More
A forward-thinking policy choice, the Pharmacy Ownership Law, gives North Dakotans pharmacy care that outperforms care in other states on every key measure, from cost to access. In North Dakota, prescription drug prices are more affordable than in two-thirds of all states. Pharmacies are more plentiful, with more per capita than in neighboring South Dakota, Minnesota, or nationally, and they’re more broadly distributed; North Dakota’s rural areas are 51 percent more likely to contain a pharmacy than similarly-populated areas of South Dakota. And in general, independent pharmacies provide higher quality care, studies and surveys of customer satisfaction find.… Read More
One U.S. state, North Dakota, and more than a dozen European countries have laws that require pharmacies be owned by pharmacists, not chains. These laws ensure that pharmacies are run by people whose first allegiance is to the provision of health care in their communities, rather than to the bottom line of a distant retail corporation. … Read More
Many European countries employ Pharmacy Ownership Laws to ensure quality medical care. Sixteen E.U. member states regulate pharmacy establishment, and 13 of them have Pharmacy Ownership Laws that require pharmacists hold the majority stake in pharmacies.… Read More
A significant share of locally owned businesses are struggling to secure the financing they need to grow. Our 2014 Independent Business Survey found that 42 percent of local businesses that needed a loan in the previous two years had been unable to obtain one. Another survey by the National Small Business Association likewise found that 43 … Read More
The Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 passed the Senate with an overwhelming, bipartisan vote.The bill would allow states that met certain conditions to require large internet and mail-order retailers to collect state and local sales taxes. As the bill’s preamble states, its intended purpose is “to restore States’ sovereign rights to enforce State and local sales and use tax laws.”… Read More
In October 2017, Pennsylvania passed a law that, like Washington’s law, requires marketplace marketplace facilitators or remote sellers with more than $10,000 in sales in the state either collect sales tax or follow certain use tax notification and reporting requirements. The law took effect i March 2018.… Read More