Sen. Ed Murray today offered his support to the Marketplace Fairness Act, which was introduced in the U.S. Senate today by a bipartisan group of senators.

“When out-of-state companies can sell products to local customers without collecting local sales taxes, both our entrepreneurs and our public services suffer. Giving local businesses a fair chance to compete with their on-line counterparts is an important part of our economic recovery. Collecting revenues even-handedly is critical to preserving the services our communities need,” Murray said.

“The Marketplace Fairness Act introduced today offers to address both these issues by leveling the playing field between local, brick-and-mortar stores and their out-of-state competitors.

“Washington relies heavily on the sales tax to support our schools, public safety programs and health care services, but we stand to lose more than $300 million in uncollected online sales taxes in the next state budget. We have already adopted the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement because we know how important this issue is to our communities. The Marketplace Fairness Act can help us provide vital services, encourage fair competition, and bring us closer to a full recovery.”

The proposal is intended to simplify state-by-state efforts to tax online sales, and has the backing of Washington-based internet retailer Amazon.com.