The Portland and Seattle Metro Chambers share advocacy priorities for addressing policy and funding challenges in the two largest urban centers in the Pacific Northwest. We share these priorities with our Cascadia Innovation Corridor partner, the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade. This combined federal agenda calls for prioritizing the Pacific Northwest and Cascadia Region to accelerate continued progress in the significantly altered, post COVID-19 pandemic, economic landscape.
Concerns about financial security and rising costs continue to be the top concern for residents and businesses across the Pacific Northwest.
The following policy priorities will make our regional economies more resilient by helping small businesses grow, keeping commerce moving, producing more housing, and making communities safer, all while supporting the necessary workforce and global market access for our large, traded-sector employers to succeed. The agenda focuses on policy areas around transportation and infrastructure, housing production, public safety, immigration reform, economic development, international trade, workforce development, affordable and accessible childcare and research and support for our world-class education system.
Top Federal Policy Priorities
- Keep commerce and people moving safely in the Pacific Northwest.
- Maintain federal commitments to community health, education, childcare, public safety, parks, forests, housing, and research.
- Increase access to affordable housing and homeless services.
- Support and maintain access to global markets.
- Modernize the nation’s energy transmission infrastructure to meet the needs of the 21st century global economy.
- Modernize forest and wildfire management.
- Keep our economies strong by:
- Pro-growth tax policies
- Permitting and regulatory reform
- Support future workforce needs
- Continue to address the fentanyl and opioid addiction crises.