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July 20, 2023 10:38am

Greater Louisville Inc. brings business leaders to Washington D.C. to advocate for top federal priorities

Annual DC Fly In coincides with release of GLI’s 2023 Federal Agenda

Louisville, Ky. (July 20, 2023) – More than 35 business leaders spent two days in the nation’s capital meeting with federal lawmakers and national policy experts as part of Greater Louisville Inc.’s annual DC Fly In presented by BrightSpring Health Services. The goal of the trip is to get business leaders in front of Kentucky and Indiana’s federal delegation to advocate for the business community’s top priorities, outlined in GLI’s newly released 2023 Federal Agenda.

“Every year, our DC Fly In presents unique opportunities for GLI investors to meet with lawmakers about the most pressing issues facing our region. This year, many of our discussions focused on policy solutions to address the causes of ongoing workforce shortages including access to childcare and immigration reforms,” said Sarah Davasher-Wisdom, president and CEO of GLI. “While our advocacy team constantly engages at the federal level, it is extremely impactful to have business leaders meet with lawmakers to discuss how policies will directly impact their operations, workers, and community.”

This year, participants of the trip met with the following legislators and policy experts:

  • The Office of Leader Mitch McConnell
  • Senator Rand Paul
  • Senator Mike Braun
  • The Office of Senator Todd Young
  • The Office of Congressman James Comer
  • Congresswoman Erin Houchin
  • Congressman Morgan McGarvey
  • Congressman Brett Guthrie
  • The Office of Governor Andy Beshear
  • Sandy Sinclair, U.S. Department of Transportation
  • Neil Bradley, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
  • Dan Clifton, Strategas
  • Linda Smith, Bipartisan Policy Center Director of Early Childhood Development Initiation
  • Anne Hedgepath, ChildCare Aware of America Chief of Policy and Advocacy
  • Lucy Recio, National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
  • Julia Gelatt, Migration Policy Institute

In conjunction with the trip, GLI also released its 2023-2024 Federal Agenda that outlines the business community’s top priorities for the coming year. The agenda includes policies in five sections: business competitiveness, education and workforce development, environment and energy, health care, and transportation and infrastructure.

Key priorities in this year’s Federal Agenda include:

  • Comprehensive immigration reform to ensure the region can attract talent from across the globe.
  • Early childhood development and access to childcare to remove barriers to work and create a strong future workforce.
  • Infrastructure improvements and investment in passenger rail to increase the region’s connectivity.
  • Policies to address inflation including easing regulations, reducing tariffs, and increasing domestic energy production.

“GLI maintains a constant advocacy presence at all levels of government. Each legislative agenda is vetted through a thorough process that includes review from more than 100 business leaders to ensure GLI is advocating as the voice of the business community,” said Les Fugate, chair for GLI’s Public Policy Council and vice president, director of state and local affairs at Brown-Forman. “The new Federal Agenda outlines bold policies that will address some of the region’s most pressing challenges and also align our economy for accelerated growth in the future.”

View the full agenda here.

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About Greater Louisville Inc.

Greater Louisville Inc. is the Metro Chamber of Commerce and represents 15 counties in Kentucky and Indiana. GLI’s mission is to grow businesses and the regional economy. GLI supports businesses during every stage of development and represents the collective needs of the business community by advocating for pro-growth policies and economic development investment, and deploying programming centered around attracting and developing talent and economic inclusion. GLI is the 2019 National Chamber of the Year and is one of only three percent of chambers nationally certified with 5-star accreditation status by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Learn more on social media @GLIchamber or visit www.greaterlouisville.com.