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Represent the interests of business with government
The Chamber protects and advocates for our members through a strong and effective Public and Government Affairs committee. This committee identifies public policy issues and takes actions on behalf of our members, protecting business interests with government. The Chamber plays a key role in developing coalitions and alliances on public policy issues that impact business.
We do this through the commitment of our volunteers working on…
- Public & Government Affairs
- Committee of Eighty
- Legislative Task Force &
- an active Lobbyist in Helena
Documents: Position Statements for 2008-2009
PUBLIC POLICY
POSITION STATEMENTS
2008-2009
Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce
Public Policy
Position Statements
2008-2009
Table of Contents
Introduction……………………………………………………………..………… 3
Economic Development…………………………………………………….4 & 5
Education………………………………….………………………………… 6 & 7
Healthcare………………………………………………………………………….8
Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment…….……………………9
Taxation and Tax Reform……………………………………………………….10
Transportation and Land Use………………………………………………….11
Workers’ Compensation………………………………………………………..12
INTRODUCTION
As we prepare for another session of the Montana Legislature, the Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce has prepared the following position statements on several issues that directly affect or impact our membership. We have focused on economic development, education, health care, tax policy, natural resources development, workers’ compensation, energy, and transportation and land use. These position statements are designed in part to give guidance to our legislative lobbying effort in the 2009 Legislature.
In addition to legislative issues, we have offered positions on several matters of local interest. The Chamber continues to monitor activities by city and county government, and some of these positions reflect our concerns with matters decided by local government authorities.
Other issues of concern to the membership may arise in the coming months, and your Chamber will address these issues as necessary to ensure that the business community is well-represented in local and state government forums.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce will play a role along with other organizations in supporting economic development in the community and surrounding region. Continued support for efforts by the state Department of Commerce that promote economic growth in our city and state. We expect the Department to be an aggressive advocate for business and economic development. The following initiatives will be high priority for this organization:
- Encouraging our city and county governments to support economic development in our region.
- Funding for research and development of agricultural product value-added plants and processes;
- Continued support for legislation that provides incentives for workplace training, retraining, workforce development, and apprenticeship programs;
- Support for programs leveraging Coal Tax monies for economic development;
- Tax incentives designed to stimulate the development of a competitive, high tech telecommunications infrastructure for Montana.
- Legislation to assist community economic development by providing incentives to businesses to locate and expand within the state through government-assisted “new jobs” training.
- Continued support for Malmstrom Air Force Base, the Montana Air National Guard, and other military facilities and missions in our community. With special regard to Malmstrom, we will encourage Cascade County and the City of Great Falls to refrain from permitting development inconsistent with uses that are normally permitted within the theoretical “Clear Zone and Accident Potential Zones”.
EDUCATION
The local Chamber has always recognized that a strong education system and a strong local economy go hand-in-hand. We therefore support the following on behalf of our local schools :
(1) Adequate Funding: we support adequate, cost-based funding of a strong system of K-12 and community college education that provides essential services without unduly burdening taxpayers, including businesses. we also support sufficient state funding to allow tuition rates at the MSU College of Technology to remain competitive with other two-year institutions located in surrounding states and affordable to students in the community and region.
(2) Stable Funding: we support funding to allow schools boards to design and implement long range plans that make the wisest and best use of taxpayer dollars.
(3) Flexible Funding: school funding must provide flexibility that allows spending decisions to be made by locally elected school boards.
(4) Support for Sustainable Energy Investments: It is vital that school districts be supported in moving to develop sustainable energy systems to mitigate increasing costs.
(5) Special Education: we endorse continued support for the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind.
HEALTHCARE
Health care remains a matter of prime concern to our membership. In addition to developing private sector initiatives to control the rising cost of health care to our members and their employees, the local Chamber will monitor public policies that have an impact of the cost of care. To that end, we support the following ideas and proposals:
(1) Philanthropy is a much needed resource that health care entities call upon to shore up their ability to carry out their mission, and tax credits that encourage private support of our health care institutions must be continued.
(2) Tax credits should be given to business to help further enable insurance coverage for employees of small business.
(3) Tobacco lawsuit revenue generally should be used for healthcare or prevention programs.
(4) Making permanent the hospital utilization fee. Montana hospitals contribute fees to leverage federal funds, which in turn mitigate losses hospitals incur in the provision of medical care to the Medicaid population; the fee is never passed on to consumers.
(5) Appropriate funding for the activities conducted by the McLaughlin Research Institute.
NATURAL RESOURCES, ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
While the Chamber supports legal protection of the natural environment so that Montana continues to be a clean, healthful and inspirational place to live, work and raise a family, we also believe that a healthy environment and a healthy economy go hand-in-hand. Consequently, we oppose so-called “environmental policies” calculated to stifle or prohibit responsible development of our resources and expansion of our economy. Environmental policies must be consistent with the principles of our private property-based, free market economic system.
Energy deregulation in Montana continues to poses challenges and opportunities to businesses as well as consumers. The local Chamber has an interest in promoting policies and initiatives that promise an affordable, stable supply of energy, without which continued economic development in the community will be adversely impacted. To the extent that differences of opinion amongst the diverse membership of this organization on energy issues can be avoided, the local Chamber will support those policies and initiatives that achieve the aforementioned goal.
Consistent with these principles, the Chamber supports the construction of the proposed Highwood Generating Station northeast of Great Falls and the Montana-Alberta Tie Line Project.
TAXATION AND TAX REFORM
Tax policy has been a major focus of the local Chamber in prior years, and will remain so during the upcoming legislative session. The best tax policy is one that is broad-based and fairly administered. To that end, we support the following policies and proposals:
- Business Equipment Tax: further reduction and eventual elimination of the business equipment tax, as necessary to create a competitive economic environment.
(2) Property Tax: Property taxes should be based on impartially assessed values determined within an assessment system that provides current and consistent property evaluation, and is applied uniformly to Montana’s citizens.
(3) Income Tax: maintain the reforms adopted by the 2003 Montana Legislature.
(4) Sales Tax: a statewide general sales tax of up to 4% (constitutional cap) as an essential step toward a balanced tax structure. A properly designed general sales tax can tap into the growing number of visitors to our state, who use Montana services, and thereby ease the burden of Montana taxpayers, while leveling the field in the interest of economic development and providing needed revenues for essential state services, including education.
(5) Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID): The Chamber supports the TBID concept and opposes any repeal of state legislation authorizing establishment of TBIDs in Montana.
TRANSPORTATION AND LAND USE
Recognizing that transportation and land use decisions are critical to building and maintaining a stable economy for Great Falls and the surrounding region, the local Chamber supports the following initiatives:
(1) Improvement of the highway between Great Falls and Billings as a means of achieving access to the Camino Real and Canamex international trade corridors, and improving our city’s link to commerce.
(2) Upon completion of environmental assessments and reviews, construction of the Great Falls “South Arterial” as a potentially essential element to an improved east-west link to Billings and beyond.
(3) Updating the the current Great Falls Area Transportation Plan.
(4) Additional means of access and infrastructure improvements to the Great Falls International Airport in order to realize the full potential of the airport as an air freight hub and air/rail/highway terminal.
(5) Provision of adequate rest stops, information centers, and directional signage to insure travelers’ safety and reasonable comfort, year-round.
(6) Maintaining a viable rail transportation system, at rates affordable to users.
(7) Implementation of the Missouri River Urban Corridor Plan adopted by the Great Falls City Commission and the Cascade County Commission.
(8) Re-establishment of the Great Falls-to-Helena rail line as an active, useful and productive carrier of commerce; we support only those efforts that maintain the rail bed as a coherent whole, and we do not support proposals that may result in break-up of the property and prevent ultimate restoration of the line.
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
The Chamber supports the following principles in any upcoming changes or reforms in the state’s workers’ compensation and occupational disease laws, to ensure a proper balance between the needs of injured workers and the need of our local business membership:
(1) Continuation and enhancement of early return-to-work and vocational rehabilitation policies and programs, to support injured workers in efforts to return to the labor force.
(2) Ongoing support for job safety training and initiatives
(3) Avoidance of any changes that may substantially increase premium costs to local employers
(4) Fair and timely reimbursement of health care providers for all services performed
(5) Maintaining effective fraud investigation, identification and prosecution policies
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