Members of the Puyallup Sumner Chamber of Commerce participated in our Lunch with Legislators event in Olympia on Tuesday, February 2nd to talk about issues impacting their organizations such as minimum wage, transportation, flooding and education.
Several representatives from the food services industry were able to discuss the financial impact raising the minimum wage would have on their businesses, while representatives from the financial and non-profit sectors shared that as minimum wage increases, their organizations look to automation and elimination of certain jobs. All agreed that one of the unintended and unfortunate results of raising the minimum wage would be a loss of jobs for teens who are already experiencing high unemployment numbers.
Mayors from both cities also spoke about their legislative priorities. Puyallup's Mayor John Hopkins discussed how the current public records laws are impacting city staff and inquired about the status of proposed legislation to address the issue. Representatives Zeiger and Stokesbary reported that while most legislators agree that reform is needed and it is being given considerable attention during this session, they are concerned about legislation that would limit reasonable access to public records. Mayor Hopkins also stressed the importance of completing additional sections of the Foothills Trail.
Sumner's Mayor Dave Enslow advocated for support to address the increasing traffic at the SR 410 Interchange, especially as Sound Transit moves forward with a new parking garage. The 400+ stall parking garage in downtown Sumner will substantially add to the traffic impact at the already congested interchange.
The Chamber was also able to deliver our 2016 legislative list of priorities to our state representatives, though most are already familiar with the topics as a result of attending our monthly government affairs meetings. If you are interested in attending our government affairs committee meetings or would like to request specific issues and topics be included in our monthly agendas, please contact the Chamber at 253.845.6755. The meetings are held on the first Tuesdays of the month at 7:30am at our office.
The Chamber would like to thank Sen. Bruce Dammeier, Rep. Hans Zeiger, Rep. Melanie Stambaugh and Rep. Drew Stokesbary for meeting with our members, listening to their concerns, and providing us with a legislative update. We also want to thank our transportation sponsor, Bill Korum Puyallup Nissan, for their support of this event.
No comments:
Post a Comment