Government Affairs
The purpose of the Shawnee Chamber is to develop a vibrant economy and attract robust quality of life amenities for Shawnee. We aim to create a diversified local economy and community supported by committed business and civic leaders.
Starting in October, this committee meets to help develop the Chamber’s annual state legislative platform. The committee also meets four times on Friday afternoons with elected officials during the session, receives legislative news updates throughout the session, and is invited to participate in additional legislative-related activities. If you enjoy working with our elected delegation for the best interest of business and education, this is the committee for you!
Learn more about national initiatives at U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Kansas Chamber of Commerce.
Key to providing a strong quality of life for our Shawnee residents and businesses is a collaborative partnership between the City of Shawnee and the Chamber. In support of the City’s initiatives, the Shawnee Chamber promotes the following local agenda.
Business, Economic, and Workforce Development
Continue to facilitate a strong and diverse economy, the Shawnee Chamber supports business, regulatory, and economic development policies that promote greater stability for the business climate and creates certainty for job growth and business expansion. The Shawnee Chamber supports:
- Goals and vision set forth by the City of Shawnee Strategic Plan, Imagine Shawnee and Comprehensive Plan, Achieve Shawnee.
- Economic incentives, where appropriate, that better the business community to include, but are not limited to, SEED, TIF, TDD, CID, IRB, and benefit districts.
- A reasonable and balanced tax policy that maintains adequate funding levels for current and future city operations, while protecting the interests of our business members.
- Community policies addressing barriers to work, including access to childcare, attainable housing, and reliable transportation.
Quality of Life
To attract an educated and diverse workforce and business community the Shawnee Chamber supports investment in Quality-of-Life initiatives and plans that will serve to attract and retain Shawnee citizens and visitors. The Shawnee Chamber supports:
- Beautification of downtown to include streetscape and pedestrian-friendly corridors.
- Investment into Valley of Champions sports corridor as means to attract outside visitors to Shawnee.
- Enhancements of the Midland Entertainment District
Infrastructure
The Chamber recognizes the importance of basic infrastructure to community growth, economic health, public safety, and overall quality of life. The Shawnee Chamber supports:
Kansas Department of Transportation's (KDOT) K-7 Corridor Plan, particularly the intersections of K-7 and 75th Street and K-7 and 43rd Street. Encourage the City to cost share in capital project costs.
The Chamber’s standing positions, which may or may not come up during any given legislative session, are as follows (positions are not presented in priority order):
SUPPORT THE FOLLOWING:
- Maintaining diverse, flexible, predictable, and competitive state economic
- development tools that can address a variety of job and investment opportunities and needs.
- Current State of Kansas status as a right-to-work state.
- Immigration is a federal issue; thus, we oppose state action that creates additional costly or time-consuming mandates for employers or imposes unreasonable penalties on employers who unintentionally hire or assist undocumented workers.
- Protection of locally controlled incentive tools (IRB, TIF, CID, NRA) for economic growth and development.
- Current laws regarding exemptions to the Kansas Open Records Act, including restricting Open Records Act coverage to only governmental agencies.
- Maintain existing, non-partisan and non-election process for the selection of high-quality judges.
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OPPOSE THE FOLLOWING:
- Changes to the current sales tax situs law on motor vehicles.
- Binding arbitration in employment disputes.
- Policies which may be perceived to make Kansas unwelcoming to all visitors.