The Chamber has a vigorous process to form and create legislative priorities. This process begins during the summer prior to the legislative session. The Government Affairs committee invites community partners and our local elected officials to outline their objectives and priorities for the next legislative session. The committee also reviews recommendations from the Chamber’s other 11 committees submitting and discussing proposals culminating with the November meeting dedicated to deliberating each proposal for consideration of inclusion in the recommendation to the Board of Directors for approval. The Columbia Chamber’s legislative agenda and priorities were approved by the Board of
Directors at their November 2015 meeting. The agenda and priorities were then released to the general public and our local delegation at the 2016 Legislative Reception held in January 2016. The Columbia Chamber of Commerce does not endorse candidates. The data generated through the vote-tracking process is used to identify areas of agreement between the business community and our local state legislators. It is intended to highlight opportunities for the Chamber to advocate for public policy, to lead our community, drive commerce in our region and advance community and regional collaborations, thereby enhancing the quality of where we live, learn, work and play.
The Scorecard is not intended to grade our local delegation, it is meant to highlight where each legislator stood on the Columbia Chamber of Commerce’s 2016 Legislative Agenda. There we certainly bright spots and disappointments with the passage and failure of priorities important to the Chamber. We were pleased to stand up for the University of Missouri and see important ethics changes made. We were disappointed to not see transportation funding see a more robust debate. Despite what appears to be a challenging future with lagging state revenues, the Columbia Chamber of Commerce will continue to work our community partners to enhance the city and region.