Chamber committee hears immigration issues

Cory Smith

Posted online November 12, 2006 | 11:00 pm

Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s Governmental Relations Committee held an immigration forum on Nov. 2 in preparation for forming the chamber’s 2007 legislative agenda next month.

Bill Owen of UMB Bank officiated the event, which featured three speakers: Stephanie Polis, director of congressional and public affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Mike Briggs, president of Willow Brook Foods; and Yolanda Lorge, president of Grupo Latinoamericano.

The purpose of the forum was to educate the committee before it suggests legislative agenda items to the chamber board of directors later this month. The chamber board will form its 2007 legislative agenda in December.

All three speakers said the government should make immigrating legally easier while maintaining national security standards.

Lorge, who hails from Mexico, spoke on behalf of her countrymen and women, while Polis and Briggs said businesses need willing workers to fill a growing number of vacancies.

Briggs said American employers would face a shortage of 20 million workers by 2026.

They also advocated employer protections for hiring immigrants under the current system in good faith that they are legal.

Other topics addressed by the Governmental Relations Committee this year have included taxes and minimum wage.

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