Advocating for You - August, 2018

FEDERAL

Ex-Im Chair Nominee: The Senate Banking Committee unanimously approved the Trump Administration's nomination of Kimberly Reed to head the U.S. Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank. The Ex-Im Bank has operated without a quorum for over two years which has limited approval of any financial transactions of greater than $10 million. The KC Chamber has been a long-time advocate of a fully-functional Ex-Im Bank and continues to urge the U.S. Senate to fully staff the Ex-Im Board.

U.S. Mexico Trade Deal: Last week, the United States and Mexico reached a deal on a NAFTA rewrite. The United States and Mexico announced jointly on Monday that major hurdles have been cleared and the two countries have reached a deal on rewriting NAFTA. Major details regarding this deal include more stringent auto parts origination from North America mandates, higher wages for auto workers in Mexico, and a continuation of tariff-free agricultural products trading. Experts believe that with the United States and Mexico striking a deal, a clearer pathway is created for a trilateral agreement between the three countries. Late last month the KC Chamber organized a press conference highlighting the negative effects restrictive trade policies have on area businesses. The Chamber advocates for free trade to allow expansion of Kansas City-area businesses and has urged Congress and the Trump Administration to prudently negotiate a NAFTA rewrite that retains the tenets of free trade with our two closest trading partners.

KC Chamber Opportunity Zones Forum: On August 13, the KC Chamber hosted a critical forum on Opportunity Zones (OZs) which was a program passed in the 2017 Tax Reform bill that allows Opportunity Funds to be created to spur investment in economically distressed communities. The event featured Kenan Fikri from the Economic Innovation Group (EIG), Ryan Brunton of Husch Blackwell, Korb Maxwell of Polsinelli, Jon Stephens of the UG of Wyandotte County, and Kerrie Tyndall of the City of Kansas City, MO. It is estimated that U.S. households and corporations were sitting on an estimated $61 trillion in unrealized capital gains at the end of 2017. OZs offer a frictionless way for investors to dedicate all or a portion of their winnings to seeding the next generation of enterprise in distressed communities across the country. There are currently five ZOs in Wyandotte County, five in Johnson County, KS, and 28 in Kansas City, MO. The KC Chamber supports innovative economic development tactics that account for inclusive economic growth and the ability for Kansas City area businesses thrive, grow, and employ more workers.

 

MISSOURI

Support for Prop D, SAFERMO.COM: How much will you invest to support Missouri's long-awaited ballot initiative and campaign to support much-needed maintenance and repair of our roads and bridges? The KC Chamber is partnering with Governor Parson, Lt. Governor Kehoe and chambers and agencies across the state to raise $400 million to support Proposition D and the campaign for SAFERMO.COM. We are asking you to join with us in support of Prop D by contributing to this important campaign.

Prop D would raise the motor fuels tax in Missouri by 2.5 cents per year for four years. Currently, Missouri has the 49th lowest motor fuels tax of all the states at just 17 cents per gallon. The proposed increase will still leave Missouri with a very competitive motor fuels tax. The last time the tax was raised was in 1996 - more than 20 years ago. We don't have to look any farther than the Buck O'Neil Bridge to see the importance of having needed funds available for our transportation infrastructure. Contributions can be made to: SAFERMO.COM, PO Box 7653, Columbia, MO 65203 or through the campaign website: www.safermo.com.

 

LOCAL

Jackson County Charter Amendments: The KC Chamber Board of Directors sent a letter to Jackson County officials last month calling on the County Legislature to remove the Charter amendment questions from the November 6 ballot and engage in a more comprehensive citizen review process as is typical of sound local government practices. The Board, acting on a recommendation from an ad hoc policy task force requested by the Chamber's KCMO Business Leadership Council, is urging the County to establish a formal charter review commission to conduct a comprehensive study of the current charter and county needs, collect citizen and business input, review local government best practices, and make a recommendation for appropriate charter modernization amendments to be placed on the ballot at a future date. Use this link to see a copy of the Chamber letter to the Jackson County Legislature.

New Chamber Engagement and Jackson County Advocacy: The KC Chamber Board of Directors at its August 27 meeting establish a formalized process by which the Chamber will engage in key issues related to Jackson County Government going forward. The board adopted the recommendations of an ad hoc policy subcommittee to establish a small task force of informed members of its Public Policy Council (PPC) that will convene as-needed to consider key county government issues and policy measures that would have significant impact on business. The PPC taskforce will study the issues and craft recommendations to the full PPC for appropriate Chamber advocacy. Upon approval of the full PPC, a formal recommendation on County issues will move to the Chamber Board of Directors for adoption and action. Relevant County issues could include the County Charter, fiscal policy, County jail conditions and management, assessment issues, bond packages, COMBAT Tax and other issues that may impact business.

Pre-KC Presentations: KC Chamber Pre-KC presentations have begun with Joe Reardon, President and CEO of the Chamber, and Scott Hall, Chamber Sr. Vice President of Community and Civic Initiatives, crossing the Kansas City metro to educate and advocate on the importance of expanded high-quality Pre-K programs.The Chamber and its Big 5 Early Childhood Education Initiative, have advocated for increasing access and investments in high-quality early learning and Pre-K opportunities across the Kansas City area. Research has shown that access to these opportunities is critical for learning development. Leading studies note that 90% of a child's brain development occurs before the age of 5. Unfortunately, 50% of children entering public school in Kansas City are behind both academically and emotionally. By investing in high-quality Pre-K programs, cities are investing in their future workforce and economy. For every dollar invested in these programs, it saves at least $7 in future spending on education, criminal justice and welfare costs. The Chamber has been closely following the Mayor's Pre-K proposal that was set to be on the November 6 ballot but has been delayed until the April ballot. The KC Chamber looks forward to collaborating with community partners to investigate best practices for providing high-quality Pre-K in Kansas City.

 

BIZPAC SUPPORT

KC BizPAC is the Political Action Committee of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City. Voluntary contributions from our members help strengthen business participation in the elective process at state and local levels in Missouri and Kansas. KC BizPAC is not affiliated with any political party. Rather, it's organized to support those state and local candidates who have taken responsible positions on issues involving business and the economic well-being of the Greater Kansas City area and the states of Kansas and Missouri.

2018 Kansas Primary Elections: All state-wide offices held primaries for their party's respective nomination as well as primaries for State House of Representative seats on Tuesday, August 7. The primary elections in 2018 saw a resurgence of conservative Republicans defeating moderate Republicans who won in 2016. Out of the 18 House races in which KC BizPAC supported candidates, nine supported candidates lost. In a tight Republican gubernatorial primary, Secretary of State Kris Kobach defeated the incumbent Governor Jeff Colyer. Kobach will face off against Democrat State Senator Laura Kelly and Independent Greg Orman. The KC BizPAC did not support any candidate for the state-wide races in the primary election cycle. As the BizPAC pivots towards the general election in November, the disbursement committee recently interviewed candidates for select Kansas House races and looks forward to interviewing gubernatorial candidates.

The 2018 Missouri Primary Elections also occurred on August 7 with only one state-wide primary election which was for State Auditor. Additionally, primaries for all House seats and various State Senate seats were held. The KC BizPAC had a 100% success rate among the 19 candidates the PAC supported in the Missouri primaries as there were very few competitive races. One competitive race was the Republican primary for Senate District 34 which pitted Tony Luetkemeyer against Harry Roberts-with Luetkemeyer winning the election. The KC BizPAC recently held candidate interviews for ten candidates for both Missouri State Senate and State House elections.

Thanks to all Missouri State Affairs and Kansas State Affairs committee members who provided their input on re-engineering the two state policy agendas and adoption processes. As overwhelmingly evident in the surveys, the KC Chamber will be collecting testimony for policy agendas via electronic submission. Chamber staff will be sending out an email survey mid-September to collect member requests for potential policy agenda items. Please stay tuned to your inboxes for more information regarding this survey and process.

 

OTHER

The KC Chamber Energy and Environment Committee held their August meeting in which they heard a timely and critical discussion from Gary Johnson of KCP&L Westar Evergy Companies outlining the current cyber threats the country's utility companies face from hackers, terrorists and foreign governments and what is being done to prevent such crippling attacks. Additionally, the Committee discussed and outlined the energy and environment policy platforms for the 2019 Federal, Missouri, and Kansas policy agendas. The KC Chamber advocates for investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency and reliability and supports policies that provide balance between public health and environmental protections without unreasonable economic burdens on industry, business and greater Kansas City area residents.