On Tuesday, September 24, the Board of Directors of the American Booksellers Association [6] sent a letter to the leaders of the U.S. House and Senate, urging them to avert a government shutdown.

The letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH), and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) stressed that “while a shutdown would severely impact all aspects of our national economy, the retail sector — particularly the small business community — would be especially hard-hit, since it would occur during the critical fourth quarter leading into the holiday season.” (The full letter is included below. [7])

In an e-mail notifying members of the Board’s actions, ABA CEO Oren Teicher noted, “It is rare that the ABA Board takes a position on overall economic issues facing the country, but, given the dire consequences and the damages that would be felt by the small business community in the event of a shutdown, this is an instance when the Board believes it is in the best interests of the membership to speak out.”

Teicher also encouraged members who share the Board’s concerns to communicate their feelings about the importance of avoiding a government shutdown with both the Congressional leadership, whose addresses are below, as well as with their own senators and members of Congress, whose contact information is available here [8].

September 24, 2013

The Honorable Harry Reid
Majority Leader
United States Senate
522 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Minority Leader
United States Senate
317 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable John Boehner
Speaker
United States House of Representatives
H-232 The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
 
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Minority Leader
United States House of Representatives
235 Cannon H.O.B.
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Congressional Leaders:

The American Booksellers Association (ABA) is writing on behalf of its member bookstores to urge you to work to avoid a costly government shutdown. ABA is the national trade association representing approximately two thousand independent bookstores operating in all 50 states.

While a shutdown would severely impact all aspects of our national economy, the retail sector — particularly the small business community — would be especially hard-hit, since it would occur during the critical fourth quarter leading into the holiday season. This is the period that most determines profitability for the entire year in retail, and it lays the groundwork for the year ahead. As you know, small businesses are an essential engine of job creation, and we are only now regaining some of the ground lost in the recent recession.

The negative effects of a government shutdown would be pervasive and profound. A shutdown would delay payments and curtail federal contracts, which would affect small businesses nationwide, and, importantly, it would halt the approval process for Small Business Administration loans, a signficant source of capital for our members, especially those in the critical early years of operations. Even more importantly, the immediate instability and uncertainty created in the economy — as a pernicious cycle of business losses and retrenchment grows in scope and power — would severely affect consumer confidence and spending. To have this occur at the start of that essential final quarter only increases the potential economic devastation for small businesses, an unintended consequence of the shutdown that we urge you to avoid.

On behalf of our member bookstores and Main Street retailers nationwide, we urge you to work for a sensible and timely bipartisan resolution to the shutdown crisis.

Sincerely,

The ABA Board of Directors

Steve Bercu, ABA President
BookPeople [9]
Austin, TX

Betsy Burton, ABA Vice President / Secretary
The King's English Bookshop [10]
Salt Lake City, UT

Sarah Bagby
Watermark Books [11]
Wichita, KS

John Evans
DIESEL, A Bookstore [12]
Santa Monica, CA

Valerie B. Koehler
Blue Willow Bookshop [13]
Houston, TX

Matthew Norcross
McLean & Eakin Booksellers [14]
Petoskey, MI

Annie Philbrick
Bank Square Books [15]
Mystic, CT

Robert Sindelar
Third Place Books [16]
Lake Forest Park, WA

Jonathon Welch
Talking Leaves Books [17]
Buffalo, NY

Ken White
Books Inc. [18]
San Francisco, CA