This article is sponsored by PublicSq.
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — This week, Arkansas-based Walmart used its lobbying power to influence a measure in the Florida Legislature that would place more burdens on small businesses in the state. SB 564 makes changes to a complex issue involving credit card “swipe” fees set by processing companies like VISA, MasterCard, and American Express that businesses are required to pay when a credit or debit card is used for goods or services.
Justin Hof, a small business owner in North Florida, told the House Commerce Committee last week that the bill being pushed by Walmart would hurt both the consumer and small businesses.
“In order for us to change out the code we have for our online storefront, it is going to cost thousands plus, on top of that, the annual maintenance fee that’s going to be used to maintain it,” said Hof. “So from that perspective, not only will it hurt on the consumer side, it will hurt on the small business side as well – the only real benefits of this bill would be on the large retail, big box chains.”
SUPPORTING SMALL BUSINESSES
But the larger issue is Walmart’s increasing influence over state legislatures in addition to its continued role in wiping out small businesses. A Washington Free Beacon report revealed that Walmart actively worked to inject DEI into classrooms in Arkansas. The big box chain facilitates educator training based on the premise that “all our systems, institutions, and outcomes emanate from the racial hierarchy on which the United States was built.”
After frustration with supporting a “woke” agenda through these large corporations, Michael Seifert started PublicSq. (Public Square), an app and website that helps people find businesses that share their values. According to their website, PublicSq. is an app and a website with the largest platform of patriotic, freedom-loving businesses the nation has ever seen. With hundreds of thousands of active consumers and tens of thousands of businesses, freedom-loving Americans can shop for quality products and services from values-aligned businesses on PublicSq.
On Wednesday, Seifert announced on Twitter that PublicSq. is moving its headquarters from California to Florida.
“We are going to take our business to a state with a government that cares about growing companies like ours instead of punishing them,” Seifert wrote. “A state run by people who actually have common sense instead of certifiable insanity.”
BREAKING: I am every excited to announce today that we are moving the @officialpsq headquarters from California to Florida.
— Michael Seifert (@realmichaelseif) April 19, 2023
We launched two years ago in San Diego and are now one of the fastest growing companies in America, soon to be going public. Gavin Newsom is planning an… pic.twitter.com/sJ4SzrOVza