As the voice of Montgomery County Business, the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is the leading advocate for businesses in our community. Each year the Chamber advocates at the local, state and federal level on behalf of our members on the issues that are important to maintaining and expanding the vibrant community that we have today.

The policy priorities of the Montgomery County Chamber are set by the decisions of our four major policy committees. Click on the links below to learn more about each of these committees and how to get involved.

Education

Legislative Affairs

Transportation and Land Use

Economic Development

Advocacy at the Local Level

The Chamber also closely monitors issues being addressed at the local level in Montgomery County, including the County’s annual operating and capital budgets, legislation before the County Council, and other issues of interest to the business community.

Visit the Montgomery County, Md. web site to review the County Executive’s recommended fiscal year 2011 operating budget, which is now before the County Council for final approval.

Montgomery County’s Chief Administrative Officer Tim Firestine and County Management and Budget Director Joe Beach briefed the Chamber’s Legislative Committee on March 22, 2010, on the County’s fiscal situation and its impact on the upcoming operating budget. Click here for a Powerpoint presentation that was used during that discussion.

Montgomery County FY 2011 Operating Budget Testimony

On behalf of our Board of Directors and members, we thank you for the opportunity to comment on the FY 2011 proposed operating budget. We recognize that Montgomery County is currently facing unprecedented challenges for this upcoming fiscal year. A sustainable County budget, in which expenditures and revenues are balanced over the long-term, is the only way to preserve and enhance the strengths of our community.

In order to refocus the County budget in a way that is sustainable for our future, we believe strongly that the County must redirect its efforts toward job/revenue growth. By growing the tax base, through job attraction and retention, the County will be able to continue to invest in the services that we value as a community, such as public education, public safety, and public health, without harming our regional competitiveness, or creating a disproportionate tax increase on local employers.

The current budget situation also presents an important opportunity to take a comprehensive review of county agencies and departments and work with them to better identify and eliminate unnecessary regulatory and other related barriers that can have unintended consequences of discouraging businesses from expanding and investing within Montgomery County.

The FY 2011 budget that is before you includes many difficult choices. Tax dollars of businesses and residents should be reinvested in those activities that are most likely to create and attract jobs. This includes, but is not limited to, an increased emphasis on use of the County’s Economic Development Fund, the County government’s main tool for attracting and growing new jobs. This new emphasis on job/revenue growth is the only way to position Montgomery County so that it will emerge from this recession with a sustainable budget and positive revenue growth.

Thank you for your consideration of our priorities.

Chamber Testimony on Proposed County Energy Tax Increase (4-20-10)
Energy Tax Letter to Councilmembers April 29, 2010
Impact of 100 percent Energy Tax Increase - MD Sample

State Legislative Issues Testimony
2010 Maryland General Assembly

The Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce’s legislative positions are taken throughout the Annapolis session by a committee of our members, the Legislative Committee. Any member of the Chamber can participate in the legislative committee and help to formulate our public positions on issues.

Each piece of legislation is consistent with our Maryland Legislative Agenda and our priority issue areas. Below are pieces of testimony on behalf of the Chamber from this legislative session, by issue area.

If you’d like to see the wide range of issues considered by the legislative committee, view our bill profile summary.

TRANSPORTATION AND LAND USE

• Motor Fuel Taxes HB 479; HB 969
• Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation Funding SB 229
• Transit Oriented Development – Expansion of Geographic Area SB 350
• Transportation Trust Fund Protection Act HB 383
• Watershed Protection and Restoration Act SB 686

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

• Department of Economic Development Equity Investment MC 18-10
• Research and Development Tax Credit Extension SB 64
• Investing a Portion of the Pension Fund in Qualified Biotechnology Companies HB 845
• Task Force to Study Nanotechonology HB 795

TAXES AND BUSINESS CLIMATE

• Corporate Income Tax – Combined Reporting HB 584
• Teacher and Employee Sustainability and Solvency HB 10

LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT

• Unemployment Insurance SB 107
• Retail Shift Breaks SB 789
• Unlawful Employment Practices – Motivating Factor HB 504

MISCELLANEOUS

• Direct Wine Shipper’s License SB 566
• Consumer Protection – Purchase of Cable Boxes HB 1203

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Site Last Updated: 20-Jul-10