Below is the government affairs update from Roberta Parks, President of the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce, dated 6/22/12.

Tax Credit Re-Try

It was brought to our attention that the link regarding the tax credit was a dud. Our apologies for that and thanks to the person who brought it to our attention. We figured out a solution, so for information about the tax credit please click here.

House and Senate Agree on Transportation

The U.S. House and Senate have come to an agreement on transportation re-authorization. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce applauded the efforts of the conference committee and called for quick action and passage by the Congress and President. To read the announcement from the U.S. Chamber, click here.

Council News

At the Council meeting next Tuesday (June 26th), Patrick Urich will release the interim report on restructuring of the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. There are no specific recommendations at this time regarding reductions in funding. Urich had earlier suggested that some funding cuts may be in the Bureau’s future. The Chamber board and City Council will discuss this report on Tuesday morning at one of our regularly scheduled Leadership meetings between the two bodies. To read the full report click here. On a related note, congratulations to Don Welch for his selection as CEO at the Bureau. He is a great choice…..strong financial skills, hotel experience and a former General Manager at the Civic Center. We wish him well!

Unemployment Numbers

The unemployment numbers for May are in and we are happy to report that the Peoria MSA has a 6.9% unemployment rate. This is below both the Illinois and national averages of 8.4% and 7.9% respectively. May marked the fourth month of declining unemployment for the Peoria MSA.

If you would like to receive these updates by email, please email Roberta at rparks@chamber.h-p.org and tell her that you would like to be placed on the government affairs email list. For past government affairs updates, click here.