Posts Tagged ‘advocacy’

Connecting members with decision makers An important aspect of the Chamber’s mission is facilitating connections—between business owners but also between members and decision makers at local, state and national levels March was a good month for making connections, as two state legislators visited the Springfield Chamber offices to offer their views of state-level progress and listen…

Mid-session legislative recap As the Missouri General Assembly reaches the midway point of the 2016 session, Chamber staff continue to make weekly visits to the capitol, monitoring more than 140 bills on behalf of our members. We will encourage lawmakers to move on top priorities including transportation, workers’ compensation reforms, workforce and economic development and education…

Making the case for better roads Making democracy work is, well, hard work. Elected officials are bombarded with information from staff, lobbyists, advocates and voters back home. Tweets, texts and emails compete for attention with floor speeches, committee meetings and phone calls. So when a constituent walks into the middle of this cacophony, the effect…

Our advocacy work is like a megaphone With the start of the Missouri General Assembly session, our public affairs volunteers and staff are in high gear, traveling to the capitol each week to advocate the legislative agenda recommended by our Legislative Policy Committee and approved by our board of directors. For 31 years, the Chamber…

Chamber, MSU build Springfield’s international network Consider this—95 percent of the world’s consumers live outside the United States. Also consider that there are more than 1,800 international students from more than 80 countries that attend Missouri State University. These two numbers represent a significant opportunity for Springfield. Since 2008, the Chamber’s International Business Council has worked…

Legislators weigh in on hits and misses from the session Members packed the Chamber to hear state Senator Mike Parson and Representative Kevin Austin share their take on what—at least from a Chamber perspective—was one of the strongest legislative sessions in many years. “This has been a very successful year for southwest Missouri,” Parson said. “It is…

Nixon signs legislation to protect businesses, taxpayers Picture this—you’re busy at work, when you get a letter from the Missouri Department of Revenue saying that you have to pay more than $90,000 in back taxes you never knew you owed. This is the scenario that state legislators are putting a stop to with a bill recently…

Legislation brings needed health care training programs to Springfield Thanks to the $26 billion budget passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor last month, Springfield will receive $10 million for the University of Missouri School of Medicine class expansion and Springfield clinical campus as well as $1.3 million for occupational therapy and other related programs…

Check out our 2015 Legislative Recap State Legislative Recap During the 2015 legislative session, over 2000 bills were filed and in the end, only 133 bills passed.  Due to a filibuster and a procedural move in the Senate, only two pieces of legislation passed out of that chamber during the last week – which has historically been…

Deadlines loom as lawmakers weigh critical legislation With just days remaining in the legislative session, the state capitol is abuzz with activity. Meanwhile, at the federal level, lawmakers are also facing tight deadlines on key business issues. Check out the update below to see where a few of the Chamber’s top priorities stand. State Legislative…