Education and Workforce

2012 Policy Position

HIGHER EDUCATION 

The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce (DRCC) recognizes the importance of and supports all of the colleges and universities, both public and private, which provide high quality undergraduate, graduate and professional education to Northern Virginia’s residents. DRCC supports positioning the Commonwealth’s public and private higher education institutions to play a full role in shaping job creation in a global knowledge-based economy, and calls on the Commonwealth’s elected leaders to reverse a decade of reduction in state funding for higher education that has shifted the burden of funding to students and families. 

DRCC believes, however, that any new state investment must be targeted toward specific goals that will provide the best return on investment for every dollar spent, including:

• Awarding 70,000 more high quality degrees to Virginia residents over the next 10 years. Virginia’s economy needs more of its citizens prepared to take jobs in the diverse knowledge-based economy. Increasing the number of degrees awarded by 70,000 would mean that 50% of Virginia’s citizens would have an associate, bachelors or graduate degree.
• Targeting new degrees in high income, high demand job sectors. Virginia’s economy will depend on increasing the number of workers able to take on jobs in high demand fields of technology, engineering, science and math, and in areas experiencing shortages, like healthcare, which is particularly important in Northern Virginia. 
• Expanding job-specific training at community colleges. DRCC has long supported Northern Virginia Community College’s (NVCC) efforts in job-specific training and believe this unique resource should be expanded and enhanced via more consistent state funding.
• Increasing public-private collaboration for university-based research. Innovation drives the Northern Virginia economy. Northern Virginia businesses need an expanded way to interact with the area’s higher education institutions to produce and commercialize original research. The Commonwealth remains one of the few states that do not have dedicated funding for technology transfer.  University-based research can only be brought to market quickly if the Commonwealth supports it.
• Making colleges affordable for low- and middle-income students and families.  Northern Virginia enjoys a diverse citizen base. The Commonwealth and our higher education institutions must do more to encourage a greater number of students to seek education beyond high school. The cost of education should not be a barrier to getting a degree. Financial aid is a key ingredient in this affordability challenge.  Without increases in state-funded financial aid, access and affordability remain a problem.

EMPLOYMENT AND LABOR ISSUES 

The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce (DRCC) supports legislative and regulatory policies that stimulate economic growth and create jobs by allowing businesses to fairly manage their personnel resources without undue government or outside intervention. DRCC favors allowing free market conditions to determine important labor issues such as compensation and conditions of employment, while strongly advocating that all employers meet their legal and ethical obligations to their employees and the government. DRCC opposes expanded government regulation of the workplace, including legislation that would limit an employer's right to operate during a strike. 

Unionization and Right To Work Laws:  The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce (DRCC) opposes any local, state or federal laws or regulations that undermine Virginia’s Right To Work laws, which have played a historically significant role in the state’s nationally recognized economic and employment growth. DRCC opposes all federal legislative or regulatory proposals that undermine the rights of Virginia’s workers to secret ballot elections to decide whether to form a union.  DRCC also opposes legislative or regulatory proposals to authorize federal government officials to impose workplace rules, such as wage levels and work hours, in the absence of an agreement between management and employees. DRCC also opposes the imposition of additional sanctions, such as fines against businesses for violations during the union recognition process. 

Minimum Wage:  Because increases in the minimum wage fall disproportionately on small businesses, which are often the least able to absorb dramatic increases in labor costs the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce opposes increases in the minimum wage and believes that any increase must include provisions that lessen the cost and regulatory burden on Virginia’s small businesses. 

Unemployment Compensation:  The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce (DRCC) supports Virginia's unemployment compensation laws, which provide adequate and temporary financial assistance to employees who become unemployed through no fault of their own. DRCC opposes the extension of benefits to workers who, through their own actions or inactions, become unemployed, including as a result of an employer-initiated lockout or an employee strike. 

Wage and Benefit Mandates:  The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce opposes Living Wage proposals and other government mandates that establish wage and benefits levels as a condition for obtaining contracts with that government. 

Workers’ Compensation:  The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce opposes any changes to Virginia's workers' compensation law that would increase costs and regulatory burdens on businesses, or otherwise undermine the laws existing sound principles and purpose. 

Davis-Bacon Act: The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce supports the outright repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires businesses to pay employees in the construction industry government-determined prevailing wages and benefits on federal and federally assisted construction contracts exceeding $2,000 in total cost. Repeal of the archaic and wasteful Davis-Bacon Act would save the federal government an estimated $8.6 billion in construction costs and $100 million in administrative costs per year.  It would also save the construction industry $190 million in compliance costs.  Most importantly, repeal of the act would lead to more infrastructure improvements and the creation of 31,000 new construction jobs as the construction industry faces record-high unemployment. 

Project Labor Agreements: The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce opposes project labor agreements (PLAs) mandated by local, state and federal governments, and other entities on taxpayer-funded construction projects. Government-mandated PLAs end open, fair and competitive bidding on public works projects by discouraging competition from qualified nonunion contractors and their nonunion employees.  These agreements unfairly steer contracts to unionized contractors and create jobs only for unionized employees. Research indicates PLA mandates increase construction costs between 12% and 18% with no discernible benefit.  Added costs attributed to reduced competition could be even greater in Virginia, where just 3.9 percent of the construction industry is unionized. 

In-sourcing:  The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce opposes any federal, state, or local in-sourcing of private-sector labor positions to government-sector positions, unless the function being in-sourced is inherently governmental in nature and/or the in-sourcing decision is substantiated by a bona-fide cost-benefit analysis that shows that efficiencies and documented cost savings will result from the in-sourcing activity.  Any such cost-benefit analysis must reflect all true costs associated with both the private sector activity, as well as the government sector activity, to include items such as, but not all inclusively, direct labor costs, fringe benefit costs, retirement costs, overhead costs, general and administrative costs, and any other direct and indirect costs that would be incurred by either party.

WORKFORCE HOUSING 

The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce recognizes that housing policy is an essential factor in economic development and supports the following initiatives to address the workforce needs in Northern Virginia: 

• Adopt the recommendations of Governor McDonnell’s Housing Policy task force to increase the availability of housing options to meet the needs of a growing regional workforce;
• Use of federal, state and local incentives, such as tax credit programs, to maximize the production of affordable and workforce housing in high-density development and/or transit centers.

2011 Policy Position

HIGHER EDUCATION

The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce recognizes the importance of and supports all of the colleges and universities, both public and private, which provide high quality under-graduate, graduate and professional education to Northern Virginia’s residents.   DRCC supports positioning the Commonwealth’s public and private higher education institutions to play a full role in shaping job creation in a global knowledge-based economy, and calls on the Commonwealth’s elected leaders to reverse a decade of reduction in state funding for higher education that has shifted the burden of funding to students and families.

DRCC believes, however, that any new state investment must be targeted toward specific goals that will provide the best return on investment for every dollar spent, including:

• Awarding 70,000 more high quality degrees to Virginia residents over the next 10 years. Virginia’s economy needs more of its citizens prepared to take jobs in the diverse knowledge-based economy. Increasing the number of degrees awarded by 70,000 would mean that 50% of Virginia’s citizens would have an associate, bachelors or graduate degree.
• Targeting new degrees in high income, high demand job sectors. Virginia’s economy will depend on increasing the number of workers able to take on jobs in high demand fields of technology, engineering, science and math, and in areas experiencing shortages, like healthcare, which is particularly important in Northern Virginia.
• Expanding job-specific training at community colleges. The chambers in the Partnership have long supported Northern Virginia Community College’s (NVCC) efforts in job-specific training and believes this unique resource should be expanded and enhanced via more consistent state funding.
• Increasing public-private collaboration for university-based research. Innovation drives the Northern Virginia economy. Northern Virginia businesses need an expanded way to interact with the area’s higher education institutions to produce and commercialize original research. The Commonwealth remains one of the few states that do not have dedicated funding for technology transfer.  University-based research can only be brought to market quickly if the Commonwealth supports it.
• Making colleges affordable for low- and middle-income students and families.  Northern Virginia enjoys a diverse citizen base. The Commonwealth and our higher education institutions must do more to encourage a greater number of students to seek education beyond high school. The cost of education should not be a barrier to getting a degree. Financial aid is a key ingredient in this affordability challenge.  Without increases in state-funded financial aid, access and affordability remain a problem.

WORKFORCE HOUSING

The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce recognizes that housing policy is an essential factor in economic development and supports the following initiatives to address the workforce needs in Northern Virginia:

• Adopt the recommendations of Governor McDonnell’s Housing Policy task force to increase the availability of housing options to meet the needs of a growing regional workforce;
• Use of federal, state and local incentives, such as tax credit programs, to maximize the production of affordable and workforce housing in high-density development and/or transit centers.