we do not can should be to the -- contribute to the communities and so forth. we think it is an unfair situation. you were the first ones to raise that topic 10 years ago. many of you have led the fight. thank you for your leadership on this matter. this is clearly an issue that needs to be fixed. i do not know that anyone believes the government should be picking the winners in this country. the playing field is level, but the government should not pick the winners. according to the university of , the foregone revenue is about $25 billion.

do when theye will collect that, it will be up to the individual state. if we change the law, this is the opportunity for the country to create 1.5 million jobs. any states will reduce the tax burden and this will facilitate economic growth. it is an issue that needs to be solved because of jobs. the number of stores that are closed, 15,000 store closures in the past few years, 5000 were announced this year. income margin is about three or four percent. i cannot match the sales tax. jobs are being lost every day

and decisions about store closures are made every day influenced by this situation. the situation needs to be solved urgently because of the base at which business is moving online. the good news is that -- is it -- the good news is that it is an issue that can be solved and can and must resolve the share. inas with -- i was washington last week meeting with various members of the house. i know today is the final game of the soccer world cup. -- the uniteds, states, france, we do not like that again because we get beaten by the germans every time. work together, we can push this over the finish line this year and create a great outcome for the employees and the states and the country.

i know you are committed to this. picking to leadership in congress, the opportunity to be very helpful. the governors have a huge voice on this. i am delighted to hear you are working on this. almost a fight that has bipartisan support. this is something that makes sense, it is a common sense solution to an old problem. i want to thank you for inviting me and giving me the opportunity to speak to the governors of the states. and talk about our industry. it is an honor for me and i'm

very happy to take time for questions from anyone present this morning. to i very much. -- thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you very much for coming. this is a critical issue for all of us. what percentage of you always existing business is done online now? >> for best buy, the bidding on the quarter, it is in the high single digits. market share online is lower than the physical. thank you for being here. we are honored to have you here. you say we are on the five yard line. and we could probably push it across the finish line this year.

what do you think the obstacles because there are some out there, and they will try to put up the stiff defense on that goal line stand here i expect. can we get a vote on this before the august recess? who is going to be opposed to it? where are our challenges? >> and this is an issue, there is broad agreement that this issue needs to be fixed. not that anyone is saying the current construct needs to be fixed. the decision in the supreme court in 1992 was made before e-commerce existed and we talk about how important e-commerce is, so everybody agrees any to be fixed. the senate voted last year. it is now in the house. a congressman from utah, jason chaffetz, who was done terrific work, there were some issues in

the senate bill. he has worked each of them to make sure that the solution is simple, is fair, and be implement it, that it can be phased. the states that have some influence on how it can get done, so there is excellent work that has been done. my understanding is there is an important law that expires on november 1, which is the not taxing internet access. the house will have the opportunity to expand the moratorium on not taxing the internet. my understanding is the senate then wants to attach a bill. whether the it is the original bill or coming from the house is not for me to say, but it is a brilliant move because it makes it clear that it is not about not taxing the internet, it is about establishing fairness in the marketplace, so that it comes back to the house, and then leaders of the house will have to make sure it gets done either in september or later. instead of talking about the obstacles, it is good to talk about what we can do.

each governor talking to their delegation can have both on the senate and house side, highlighting emergency -- many states have highlighted the opportunity to lower the tax rate. in some states that is very impactful. in fact, for us to discuss how the states should use the proceeds, there is a great thing in this country, which is called democracy, and it is a federal system, so it is for the states to decide this, so for the governors to clearly talk to their delegations, say you can do this with leadership, and press the urgency of the matter. there is no technical obstacle today to solving this. the reason why the supreme court 20 years ago decided against it is they felt it was too complex. we are the country that took man

to the moon and of these extraordinary things, calculating facts, software can do this. there are many companies that provide the software. it is not difficult. we do this every day. it is limited, the ability to audit, because it was a consent about so many states auditing more companies at the same time. i think the work that has been done in the house will solve this. there is no technical obstacle, so i would like to say that defining what to do is often easy. defining how to do it sometimes is more difficult. just doing it, that is true in business, that is why i take the analogy of the five-yard line.

if we push together and talk to everybody who will make a decision, we know who the decision-makers are, let's just get it done. it will be good for the country. i see it now. my perception is -- all of you have done so much, and after 10 years, it can feel that you are tired. no, this is the five-yard line, so this is the time to push. >> any other questions? >> can i just say one more thing? it is an interesting time, and you hear talk about corporate greed and some of the challenges that we have in me marketplace out there. best buy is a remarkable store, you started in 1968, really a success story that we can all learn from. i did note that forbes magazine named you the best top company in america here a few years ago, but just as impressively, they named you the top 10 most generous corporations in america. tell us a little bit about your

philosophy at best buy, and how does your giving back -- i think here in the national area, you probably have three or four stores right here in tennessee. what is your philosophy of giving back to the community as part of your corporate mission statement? >> governor, thank you so much for this question. this is something that is very dear to the heart of everyone at best buy. we feel that when you lead a major corporation, we have responsibilities as do all of the stakeholders. of course we have a big response will be because we have shareholders. we completely get that. we have a big responsibly for our customers, for our employees, and we have a big

responsibility for the communities in which we operate. we are very grateful for the hospitality that each of your states provide, and we feel we are in the boat and rowing together. this is from the dna of minnesota. what i went to minnesota six and a half years ago, i felt very clearly that there was a sense of common responsibly, the common good of the community, and everybody in minnesota gets in the boat and rows. we have our charitable activities. we have the best buy children's foundation. we are very focused on kids and technology. each year we do a big fundraiser in minneapolis. we ask all of our vendors and partners to contribute, and we raise the several millions of dollars to contribute from that standpoint. it also means getting involved. many of us are involved in local institutions. the program that is the most remarkable i think at best buy is the recycling program. recycling, of course the planet -- we really care about this planets, and being able to recycle in the last four years

one billion pounds of electronic products is a great contribution to the common good and the planet. and because of our relationships with various vendors and so forth, we then take the raw materials that are in these products and recycle them, so it is not that we just get them out of the home, we do something with them. i am not alone speaking. many corporations in america and around the world feel the same. this is not just about making a buck -- this is about contributing to the common good, and through the jobs we provide but also through the impact we have on the community, so we are very passionate about this, and we thank you for your question, governor. >> based on your hospitality or your generosity, i appreciate that particularly in my neighborhood of minnesota, in particular in the twin cities, some people may not know this, but it was just announced by the nfl that the super bowl is going to be in the twin cities, and i thought i particularly feel generous because it makes my commute to watch the packers plan a super bowl much shorter

than it normally is, so i appreciate that. [laughter] >> we are not a true competitor with that team. do you have a professional law team in your state, governor? >> i think the 13 world championship that we have compare with zero i think there are in minnesota, but [laughter] i also was probably a little more they dig when i said it. i am a good midwesterner, and i think it is only right for our neighbors because it is probably closest a vikings fan will ever get to the super bowl, so that is pretty good as well. [laughter] >> thank you for sharing that story. [laughter] this was the great case of the community in minnesota getting together to get this outcome, so the governor and the sub companies in minnesota all got together and said we want to get this done, and my friend who got the super bowl 20 years ago, and mitchell davis, the chairman and ceo of u.s. bank, all of us got together and we provided the

ipads for the presentation and so forth, and this was the case of a team effort to get this done, so we like to get together and do great things, and yes, i know, we have got some work to do. we will keep working on this, governor. >> all right. thank you so much. we appreciate your time today. it was very exciting to hear how the transition of your company and integrating e-commerce with main street and how all of that works. you gave us so many ideas to take back home. we appreciate it. >> thank you so much. >> let's give a round of applause. [applause] thank you. thank you very much.

and we all like to shop at best buy, so we appreciate that. we're counting down to our final few moments at the closing session of the national governors association, and may i just say that it has been a great honor and a great pleasure to serve as your chair this year. i really have enjoyed getting to know even better our fellow governors across our nation, and it makes me very proud of the great work that we do together in a bipartisan way, both democrats and republicans, talking about our best practices, public policy, issues, challenges, opportunities facing our very states, and certainly working with our corporate sponsors, our different organizations that also belong to the nga, we appreciate your parents as well because this gives us great insight, great expertise from your very industries to have you as members of the national governors association. before i leave today, i also have to thank someone was stuck by my side during this year

because as you can imagine, governor hickenlooper, it does take a little extra time to begin national chair, but that is my husband, wade christiansen. [applause] i appreciate it, honey. thank you for everything. i also want to thank our executive board. we are getting ready to change over, and i know some of our members have already had to leave, but our incoming chair, governor john hickenlooper. governor hickenlooper and i have worked closely over the past year on many different issues that we find commonality on, so thank you, governor hickenlooper. i'm looking forward to your service. governor branstad, we appreciate your service on the executive committee. governor bullock, governor herbert, governor walker, thank you so much, and we also have governor beebe and governor dayton, who has already left, so thank you for your service on the executive committee.

once again, thank you to governor haslam and his team, your staff. i know it is not only you and christie by your staff that have worked very, very hard to make this possible and all of the tennessee hosts and sponsors as well as all of the people that are in the rooms today as our corporate sponsors. i also want to thank the nga staff members because it takes a tremendous amount of work you put on his conferences, and there are many of them across the nation, not only our summer meeting, our winter meeting, but also the congress as we have on health care, transportation, homeland security, education -- you name it. cyber security. they do work all year round and provide great seminars for our staff. i also want to recognize our great team with the nga, and there are a lot of people, but i want to start out with the top executive leadership. dan, thank you for being our executive director. we appreciate you. where is he? [applause]

you tell him great job. we appreciate him. david plum, david moore, jodi omar, did i say that right? [applause] thank you all. shelley irby and also on my project, america works, richard lang, garry gross, and art palmer did a knockout job. thank you very much. just a bang up job on that. they did a super job putting together all of the materials and giving us something that we can all take home with us. and i have to tell you that when i was nominated to be the national chair, i went back to my staff and i said guess what, we got nominated to be the vice chair, which means that in a couple of years, you will be the chair. i won't repeat the words of what my chief of staff said to me -- [laughter] but she did say she would not be with me any longer.

but she is here today, and we have spent 20 years together working through various positions, but my chief of staff, denise northrup, i want to give her a round of applause. [applause] thank you very much. katie, who is our policy director, works very hard with all of your stuff across the nation. chelsea barnett, alex wentz, our communication strategist, taking pictures right now. travis brower, who was put together all of our materials, and there are many other people, but these are the core people here today. thank you to my staff. [applause] it has been a great pleasure. i know governor hickenlooper, you are going to have a ball. it is a lot of fun to work with our fellow governors and our corporate partners throughout the nga, so now i would like to call on our chair of our nominating committee, governor earl ray tomblin, who is to share our executive committee nominations.

>> thank you, governor chair. we would like to say thank you for your great organization over this past year, and we want to let you know that your committee has worked very hard, very diligently over the last 72 hours to come with the recommended ages for leaders of this organization, from 2015. we look north and we look south, east, and west, we did background checks, we did hear, we did all kinds of things, but it is really my privilege and honor to officially nominate the following governors to lead your innovation through 2015. i will start with the nga executive committee, governor terry branstad of iowa, mark dayton of minnesota, pat mccrory of north carolina, steve bullock of montana, you, madam chair, mary fallin oklahoma, dan malloy

of connecticut, and scott walker of wisconsin. and as nga vice chair, governor gary herbert of utah, and as nga chair for 2015, governor john hickenlooper of colorado. madam chair, i move that the nominations. >> thank you for your work. all those in favor say aye. >> [all] aye. >> all those opposed nay. the motion carries. governor hickenlooper, congratulations as the new chair of the national governors association. [applause] all right. i turn it over to you. >> well, thank you, mary. you have been a truly outstanding leader for the national governors association, and i'm excited to continue the work that we have started together.

i am looking forward to work with our new vice chair, gary herbert, and we have a history of working on those organizations. we have all committed to that role that we can influence and stressed the importance of governors, states working within the nga. i think we believe in governors and their role of directing the laboratories of innovation, democracy, we believe in the nga. the nga's role in helping governors do better. there has certainly never been a greater urgency for governors to play that role, and governor fallin, you have done that. or is no small work over the last year that governor fallin has been remarkably dedicated to the work of the nga, to better connecting the educational systems of our states to the job markets of the future, and on behalf of all of your colleagues, i would like to tell you i have never had so many people come up and just say what a great job somebody has done. i'm honored to present you with

this gavel, commemorating your year as the chair of the nga. >> oh, wonderful. [applause] thank you. >> don't hit it yet. during the last year, mary and i both started a consistent message, states leading this nation forward, governors from across political spectrum and from literally all parts of the country are working to improve the way government operates, putting politics in place that improves the lives of our citizens in every corner of this country. some of us may believe that governments should be larger, some of us believe it should be smaller, but we all believe that government has to work. the work that we do collectively through nga is so important and so valuable through that enterprise. as we have seen this weekend, sharing our stories and best practices with each other really helps each of us to do a better

job managing the challenges we face. each year, the nga chair chooses an initiative of importance to them and importance to other governors across the country. this year, we're going to broaden the focus a little bit. state government today touches numeral aspects of people's lives and delivers an array of services from building and operating new highways to broad social programs. governors are poised to make these operations work in the most cost-effective, the most efficient cost-effective way possible. and colorado, we have been saying efficient, effective, and elegance to drive home that part of the summer service at the end. that is why have chosen to focus for the year 2014-2015 the national governors association chair's initiative of what we're going to call delivering

results. as the stewards of revenues collected by states as well as those that fall from the federal government, governors oversee significant operations in both scope and scale. that expansion makes it even more important for governors to harness the human talents, innovative and imaginative prices, new and emerging technology, and sophisticated analytics to increase performance and deliver results. some of our governors are already taking advantage of recent innovations to address the fundamental issues of how do we deliver better results. there are truly some cutting-edge ways to do this, including recruiting the best and the brightest to work in their administrations, employing modern management practices to keep government lean, and last but not least, using technology to drive results, track progress, and really create innovation. there is a large community including academic leaders, businesses, think tanks, a broad

array of skilled consultants who have assisted governors in this work. this community helps governors generate success across the country. by showcasing the successes in various states and providing an opportunity to share best practices with each other, we can work together over the next year as a streamlined state government and improve the lives of people across the nation. i know we in colorado have ideas and innovations to share, but i think like all states, we are going to gain much more than we give. during the next year, my initiative will can be in several meetings of experts, from state government, from universities and innovators from the public sector, including nongovernment organizations, to score the cutting edges of innovation, in-state operation and in policymaking. the knowledge gained from these meetings will lead us to a summit in 2015, which i hope many of my fellow governors will

attend and be able to call attention to the promising and best functioning practices, and frankly to borrow -- and quite nakedly to steal -- from each other. i am looking directly at governor haslam and governor walker. i know each of you believes in this mission and every governor is working on it, but i think why focusing on that ability to share best practices, we can accelerate our progress, and i look forward to working with each of you on this and all of the issues over the next year. again, thank you all for being here for the 106th nga summer meeting, and thank you, governor haslam. bill, you have been an amazing host. i think this will go down in history as one of those trends were now people will be elbowing each other to make sure they are at each summer meeting. thank you so much for doing that.

we are now adjourned. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute &a.next, q1 7:00, your calls and comments on washington journal. the house rules committee meets to consider the rules for the transportation and highway funding act. 5:00ive coverage begins at eastern on c-span 3. for high school students, their learning is this bundle of

digital learning services, some that are formal and paid for by the state and some that are informal. the resources that students and parents find online. it is becoming important that states make sure every family have access to override he a full and part-time -- a variety of full and part time learning. learning and the future of the u.s. education on c-spanight at 8:00 2.

he also discusses his career as a syndicated columnist and the controversy surrounding one of his recent columns involving sexual assault on college campuses. >> george f will, a nice little place on the north side. what is the story behind this? >> the story is that wrigley field turned 100 years old in 2014. a few years ago i saw this coming. i am a writer who often writes not to say what he thinks but to find out what he thinks. i had no idea what i was going to say. i said, there has got to be a story here. it is an interesting place with an interesting subject, baseball. also it is in a very interesting city. radio happened there for baseball and all kinds of things happened.