Priorities

Legislative Priorities

2012 Legislative Priorities

Spartanburg Area Chamber 2012 Legislative Priorities 

Business Regulatory Reform

The Chamber recognizes that regulatory and tax policies have a massive impact on the cost and affordability of doing business in South Carolina and the Upstate.

 The Chamber supports: 

  • Achieving business-friendly, comprehensive tax reform by overhauling the state’s tax code
  • Finding a workable solution to funding the state retirement system, which currently diverts funding away from critical need areas
  • Streamlining and combining of agencies and different departments within the state to improve government efficiency
  • Continued efforts to ensure S.C. remains a right to work state
  • Offsetting Unemployment Insurance (UI) loan repayments to the federal government with tax relief to all S.C. employers

Economic Development

The Chamber is an advocate of developing and implementing comprehensive statewide economic development plan that focuses on creating jobs of the future, business retention, and incentives for high-growth companies. 

 The Chamber supports:  

  • Incentives to support existing business growth and new company attraction  
  • Legislation that will help attract private capital for promising start-ups while putting S.C. on an even, competitive footing with 25 other states (including N.C. and GA)
  • Continued port expansion, including harbor deepening project and a dual rail access solution
  • Dedicated funding and stable revenue for maintenance and repair of SC roads and bridges
  • Upstate tourism and the creation of a comprehensive SC State tourism and branding plan
  • Strengthening intellectual property rights of employers
  • Advocating for business attraction, retention and entrepreneurial systems.

Education and Workforce Development

The Chamber believes that life-long education is a driver of economic development. By striving to create a skilled workforce that has the knowledge and skills necessary to meet the needs of businesses in the Upstate, education will become the dynamic force behind business in the Upstate.

The Chamber supports:

  • Initiatives that will help to increase early childhood education and graduation rates, thus providing a more skilled workforce for business and industry in SC preferably
  • Legislation that would require students to remain in school until reaching 18 years of age or mandating that drivers licenses be suspended for dropping out of school before age 18
  • Initiatives that will help to increase the number of individuals entering and completing post-secondary training or education
  • Legislation that provides stable, equitable, and adequate K-12 funding
  • Expanded Workkeys programs to better link workers to available jobs
  • Funding USC Upstate at an equitable level compared to other state schools  
  • Enhancing career exposure to help high school students to align their career expectations with the actual job market
  • Continued reform of S.C. unemployment compensation to meet the needs of today’s workplace

Energy and Environment

The Chamber understands that steps need to be taken to ensure new, innovative ideas are being developed for energy use and consumption that can be utilized without causing unnecessary harm to the environment.

The Chamber supports:

  • Initiatives to insure compliance with EPA air quality standards that promote development without compromising quality of life
  • Restore balance to the Pollution Control Act following the Smith Land Company ruling from the South Carolina Supreme Court

Healthcare

The Chamber recognizes that health insurance access and affordability continues to be an issue for businesses throughout the state, especially small businesses.

The Chamber supports:

  • Initiatives to ensure healthcare is affordable for small business
  • Employee wellness programs in the workplace to help reduce healthcare costs

 

*This Legislative Agenda is driven by input from the Chamber’s Government Relations Committee, results from a membership-wide survey and reflects the Spartanburg business community’s 2012 legislative priorities.