At a recent joint chambers of commerce meeting, Kati Capozzi, the President and CEO of the Alaska Chamber presented the results of a recent survey conducted by the Alaska Chamber to give Alaska’s legislators a cross section of how Alaskan’s feel about that state’s economy.
Capozzi explained the results of the survey;
” I think that the most important thing that we have seen is people have an increase positivity on the economy overall, which is great. We’re post covid, people are feeling positive about the economy but it’s cautious optimism. They are not wanting to be taxed, that’s for sure. And something we know for sure is that the people of Alaska do support a spending cap which for the Alaska Chamber makes us happy cause we think that a spending cap is important as well. So, we will be communicating that with the legislature.”
The Alaska Chamber has been the voice of Alaska’s business community since its founding in 1953. In 1953, a few years before Alaska was granted statehood, the “All Alaska” Chamber of Commerce was formed for the purpose of promoting commerce in Alaska.
Capozzi outlined some of the Alaska Chamber’s top priorities;
“Well a sustainable fiscal plan has been our top priority for more than twenty years. Beyond that there’s a lot of other issues that we’ll be looking at, in fact child care is something were starting to spend a lot of attention on. It’s not a social issue at this point, it’s a business issue. The lack of affordability and accessibility of child care is impacting the business community. “
While the voters in the most recent general election voted not to hold a Constitutional Convention, the Alaska Chamber is proposing an amendment to the constitution be introduced.
Capozzi explains the amendment;
“So, with a spending cap we think that if it’s going to be meaningful, it’s going to have to take place in the constitution. It’s going to have to be a constitutional spending cap. We have a spending cap right now in statue, and it is not effective at all.”
The Alaska Chamber is the only statewide membership organization representing all business sectors in Alaska, the chamber serves hundreds of businesses from Ketchikan to Utqiagvik.