Chamber holds business forum on health care with special invited guest Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling.

PRESENTATION BY GBS ON HEALTH CARE REFORM

AFLAC PRESENTATION ON HEALTH CARE REFORM

BOLLING PRESENTATION OF VIRGINIA'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Strong Business Advocacy Before Government

The Alexandria Chamber advocates for the Chamber's positions and the business community's interests at City Hall, in the General Assembly and on Capitol Hill. Examples of our effective business advocacy include:

• Promotion of quality commercial development in areas zoned for those uses
• Support for transportation projects, such as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, which ease traffic congestion in Alexandria
• Leadership in finding employee and public parking solutions in Old Town and other areas of Alexandria
• Analysis of all tax proposals and the City's proposed operating budget
• Ongoing development of taskforces to address issues impacting Alexandria's business community and quality of life

The Chamber’s Government Relations Committee meets bimonthly to monitor local, state and federal legislation and advocate for Alexandria businesses. To get involved with the Government Relations committee, contact the Chamber.  For other government relations inquiries or comments, please email the Government Relations Assistant, or call 703.549.1000.

For the latest issues that the Chamber is watching, follow our Legislative Tracker - subscribe to our RSS feed or monitor our home page.

Business Community Wins Fight Against "Add On" Tax

May 5, 2010 - The Alexandria Chamber of Commerce today celebrated the decision of the Alexandria City Council to abandon proposals that would have unduly increased taxes for City businesses and imposed new fees for storm water drainage.

The City’s FY 2011 budget was passed on May 3rd without those proposals, which were opposed by the local business community. Some tax increases were, however, incorporated into the budget.

By passing a budget without a three cent commercial real-estate add on tax and additional fees, local businesses will have the ability to continue to invest in growth, according to Chamber President & CEO Tina Leone.

The Chamber’s outreach and advertising campaign, which focused on ensuring that the Alexandria City Council allow City businesses the opportunity to recover from the recession—without tax hikes—was instrumental in catalyzing hundreds of business leaders to contact Council and the Mayor, Leone said.

“We are thankful that businesses large and small stood together and spoke out with unity against tax increases that would have unfairly burdened job-creating businesses here in Alexandria,” Leone said. “We are enormously grateful that the Alexandria City Council did the right thing and listened to the will of the people of Alexandria in passing a fair budget.”

The Chamber also called on Council to begin immediately addressing long-term solutions to fund transportation projects—an issue that arose during the most recent round of budget discussions.

“Alexandria must create and equitably fund the transportation infrastructure required for our City to compete with, as well as become an integrated part of a regional plan with, our neighboring jurisdictions,” Leone said. “We look forward to local businesses being involved in this crucial process.

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2010 Legislative Directory

Please click here if you would like to view our 2010 legislative directory.