Government Affairs Committee

THE GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS COMMITTEE-ADVOCACY IN ACTION

The Government Affairs Committee closely monitors legislative and administrative activities pending or being studied at the national, state, county and local levels of government to further the mission of the Chamber, creating and supporting a business friendly environment conducive to economic development and the retention and expansion of existing businesses enhancing the quality of life in our service area.

Past initiatives include advocating to our county, state and federal representatives for specific shovel-ready projects in hopes of winning economic stimulus funding.  We also successfully supported a specific rental development which included both workforce housing and commercial components.   We urged local taxing authorities to adopt the best practices cited in the National Advisory Council on State and Local Budgeting guidelines for the Government Finance Officers Association in an effort to efficiently and effectively manage resources and precious tax dollars.  We are members of, and have hosted presentations by, the Business Development Board in hopes of attracting employers considering relocation or expansion in our community and we have hosted a presentation by the Housing Leadership Council in hopes of positioning our members to take the most advantage of neighborhood stabilization funding for our area.

More recently, the committee developed and advocated positions to promote an expedited review process for land development by local governments and to encourage the use of local area vendors and contractors in procurement and contracting.  The Committee also carefully reviewed and considered the 57 page Palm Beach County Grand Jury Report on county governance and public corruption issues, setting in motion a resolution supporting the findings of the report, which was delivered to the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners.

Future efforts will focus on building broad-based support of our Economic Development Strategic Plan.  Road projects and traffic planning with the Metropolitan Planning Organization and the county are always on our radar.  During the 2010 election cycle, we hope to host joint candidate forums with other chambers. 

Any member of The Palms West Chamber of Commerce is invited to consider becoming a part of the Government Affairs Committee. For more information, please call Gina Rascati at (561) 798-5498 or send an e-note to Gina@RASIappraiser.com