Government Affairs Committee Updates
Board of Directors
- Congratulations and welcome to our new Board Chair, Tonya Vidal-Kinlow, who was installed at our Annual Meeting in December 2022. Tonya is Vice President of Community Engagement, Advocacy & Government Affairs at Children’s National Hospital and has a wealth of experience in both local and federal government relations. Although Tonya has been a longstanding active member of the Government Affairs Committee, we look forward to working with her in her new capacity. You can find more about Tonya Vidal-Kinlow and the DC Chamber Board of Directors here.
- We would also like to congratulate Stacy Burnette, of Comcast, on her election to serve as 1st Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. Under co-chairs Stacy Burnette and Brett Greene, the Government Affairs Committee had an impactful 2022, leading advocacy efforts on the budget, and legislation related to marijuana testing, restrictions on non-compete agreements, and the regulation of algorithms. Brett Greene returns as Committee chair. While it saddens us to lose Stacy as a co-chair, we are grateful for her willingness to serve as an officer on our Board.
Scorecard
- The Chamber is forming a working group to build on the success of our first-ever Council Scorecard. The group will consider enhancements to the current Scorecard. Please notify Brett Allen ([email protected]) or Kevin Wrege ([email protected]) by February 8, 2023 if you are interested in participating. To download and view the full scorecard, please visit: https://dcchamber.org/2022-scorecard.
Tax Revision Commission
- The Chamber is also forming a working group to provide recommendations to the DC Tax Revision Commission (TRC). We are seeking participation from interested DC businesses, associations, law firms, and tax experts with an aim of delivering recommendations to the TRC in early summer 2023. If you are interested please contact Brett Allen ([email protected]) or Kevin Wrege ([email protected]) by February 8, 2023.
DC Council Activities
On January 3, 2023, the DC Council agreed to new rules, committee jurisdiction, chairs, and members*. Of most interest to the DC Chamber Government Affairs Committee are:
Committee on Business & Economic Development
Kenyon McDuffie, Chair
Charles Allen
Vincent Gray
Brooke Pinto
Anita Bonds
Committee on the Judiciary Public Safety
Brooke Pinto, Chair
Charles Allen
Anita Bonds
Vincent Gray
Christina Henderson
Committee on Executive Administration & Labor
Anita Bonds, Chair
Matt Frumin
Lewis George
Kenyan McDuffie
Trayon White, Sr.
*Additional committee information can be found here.
Key Legislation
We anticipate additional legislation as Council Period 25 unfolds.
B24-0558 “Stop Discrimination by Algorithms Act of 2021”
The “Stop Discrimination by Algorithms Act of 2021,” seeks to prohibit users of algorithmic decision-making in a discriminatory manner and would require corresponding notices to individuals whose personal information is used in certain algorithms to determine employment, housing, healthcare, and financial lending. Introduced by the Attorney General, this proposed legislation has prompted a series of questions and concerns from the DC business community. In July 2022, the Chamber convened a broad working group consisting of both local and national business and industry leaders to coalesce around defeating or fixing this harmful bill. The Chamber led a successful effort last fall to delay formal action on the bill until the new Council session in 2023.
Councilmember Robert White, Jr., who championed last year’s bill, anticipates refiling the legislation within the next month. Since he now chairs the Housing Committee however, it is unlikely that he will retain committee jurisdiction over the bill.
Regulation
DC Cashout Law
Reporting is now due to DDOT
Passed by the DC Council in April 2020, the “DC Transportation Benefits Equity Act of 2020,” also known as the DC Parking Cashout Law, requires businesses in DC with 20 or more employees to either offer a Clean Air Fringe Benefit to employees receiving a free or reduced-cost parking space at work, develop a transportation demand management plan, or pay a Clean Air Compliance fee. All DC employers with 20 or more employees must report their progress to DDOT every other year, regardless of how they handle their parking.
At our October Government Affairs meeting, goDCgo discussed DC Parking Cashout Law requirements and took questions from committee members. You can find the link to the presentation here: Parking Cashout Law_DC Chamber_10.6.22
Initiatives
DC’s Comeback Plan
On Monday, January 9, 2023, the Mayor released DC’s Comeback Plan, an initiative setting the Administration’s economic development vision and goals for the next five years. The plan establishes the following six goals:
- Create 35,000 New Jobs in High-Growth Sectors;
- Increase Share of Minority-Owned Businesses;
- Eliminate Key Amenity Gaps Across All Neighborhoods;
- Add 15,000 Residents to the Downtown Population;
- Retain Current Residents and Reach a Population of 725k; and
- Increase Median Income of Black Households by $25,000.
The DC Chamber was well represented on the Comeback Plan panel by our new Board chair, Tonya Kinlow. You can view the plan here. https://www.obviouslydc.com/dcs-comeback-plan/home
DC Chamber of Commerce Upcoming Events
- ChamberWorks: New Member Orientation on February 22, 2023
- Save the Date for the Small Business Summit on May 9, 2023. More information will be forthcoming.
