Chamber of Commerce: Advancing Legislative Priorities

The I-94 West Chamber of Commerce is more than ribbon cutting celebrations and networking events. While these and similar components are incredibly important, the Chamber also partners with business and city leaders to advance economic development efforts and is also instrumental in advancing the legislative priorities of our members.

We serve as a connection between our region’s businesses and organizations and local, state, and federal policy-makers. We help our members be heard at all governmental levels. The Chamber belongs to the Minnesota Chamber Federation and is one of 40 local chambers unified to adopt and advocate for the top legislative priorities of our members. We do this in a number of ways and offer our members an opportunity to get in involved in this process as well. Some of the ways members can share their concerns are:

• Participate in Regional Policy Meetings to share your concerns. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce gathers feedback from these meetings in order to review and revise current policies and identify new issues.

• Attend the Session Priorities event each legislative session to gain understanding of the Minnesota business community’s current top priorities for lawmakers. Top priorities for 2013 include:
  • Education: Strengthen education and workforce development at every point in the pipeline;
  • Taxes: Reform the spending system for long-term fiscal stability;
  • Health: Implement a Minnesota-made health care exchange that facilitates, not regulates, an informed consumer marketplace.
  • Energy: Work to regain the advantage of competitive energy costs for Minnesota businesses;
  • Environmental Regulations: Continue work to clarify and improve efficiency of the regulations and permitting process;
  • Elections: Advocate moving Minnesota’s primary election to June for increased voter turn-out.

• Attend Business Day at the Capitol, a day when local business leaders are invited to meet one-on-one with elected officials, an excellent opportunity to make your voice heard.

• Become involved with the I-94 West Corridor Coalition, a collaboration of the I-94 West Chamber, St. Michael, Albertville, Otsego, Rogers, Wright County and many businesses throughout the Region to work toward improvements to I-94. Funding legislation was introduced in both the House and the Senate this session.

During the 2013 session, we have provided a number of updates to our members on the legislative topics that most impact our region’s businesses and organizations. We’ve encouraged our members to contact their elected officials to voice their concerns, most recently regarding the impact of Governor Dayton’s budget proposal. We’ll continue to keep our members informed as the legislative session winds down this month.

The I-94 West Chamber of Commerce is also involved in happenings at county and city government levels as well. We encourage our members to contact us with issues or concerns and we will advocate on their behalf.

To learn more about our legislative activities or to discuss these and additional benefits of Chamber membership, please feel free to contact Rhonda Baack, President, at 763-428-2921.