As an interesting follow-up to our, well, follow-up of the ongoing story of Amazon-versus-every-state-in-the-union-that-wants-it-to-pay-sales-tax-like-every-other-retailer-in-the-country …. Barnes & Noble has sent a letter to retailors in the Amazon affiliates program who were recently screwed by Amazon (who dropped them in states demanding it pay state sales taxes) inviting them to join a new B&N affiliate program.

As a Publishers Weekly report details, a letter from BN.com president Jim Foley has been sent out to jettisoned members of the Amazon affiliates program saying,

We understand that Amazon.com has threatened to terminate its affiliate program in certain states that may enact e-fairness legislation that requires Amazon to collect sales tax due on purchases by residents in those states. Barnes & Noble is disappointed to hear that Amazon would threaten small businesses’ livelihood rather than comply with state law …Barnes & Noble wants Amazon.com affiliates who have been terminated to know that you are welcome to join the Barnes & Noble affiliate family. If Amazon doesn’t want you, we do! And, we will take care of collecting and remitting all sales taxes due on BN.com sales to its customers so you and our customers don’t have to worry about being hassled or prosecuted by state tax auditors.

Meanwhile, in Texas, yesterday a MobyLives report noted that Amazon was firing an unnamed (but large) number of employees as part of a hissy fit over the state Revenue Department saying it owed sales taxes to the state, but today the state’s governor, Rick Perry, said he would work with the state legislature to thwart his own tax department on the issue.

“We don’t want to be onerous on tax policy where businesses and I would say I’m having a hard time getting my hands around this one,” Perry is quoted as saying in a Washington Examiner report . “The good news is that the legislature is in town for our bianual [sic] session. Hopefully someone will be able to craft some legislation — and actually do it — before Amazon walks out the door. Texas should be a bastion for businesses not one where they’re sitting there going ‘we’d rather go over to go to Oklahoma where we could get a better deal.'”