The Michigan Chamber of Commerce will hold an informal press briefing on Friday, January 24, 2003 to discuss its legislative priorities for 2003-2004. The roundtable discussion will begin at 11:00 a.m. at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, 600 S. Walnut St., Lansing.

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Yesterday, the Michigan Chamber's 87-member Board of Directors, which consists of business leaders from throughout the state, reviewed and unanimously approved the Chamber's legislative priorities for the 2003-2004 legislative session.

Available to discuss the Michigan Chamber's legislative priorities will be: Jim Barrett, Michigan Chamber President & CEO; Rich Studley, Senior Vice President of Government Relations; Bob LaBrant, Senior Vice President of Political Affairs and General Counsel; Nancy McKeague, Senior Vice President of Administration; Tricia Kinley, Director of Tax Policy & Economic Development; and Doug Roberts, Jr., Director of Environmental & Regulatory Affairs.

More than 350 job providers were directly involved in establishing the Chamber's 2003-2004 legislative priorities which address 12 issue areas: corporate responsibility; education quality; energy; environmental quality; health care; human resources; land use; school finance; taxes; telecommunications; tort reform; and transportation.

The Chamber's legislative priorities are not intended to be a catalog of the Chamber's position on every important issue that may come up over the next two years. Rather, they are intended to communicate to businesspeople, the news media, the legislature and administration what state government's top priorities should be to encourage job creation and economic growth.

The voting record of State Senators and State Representatives on these priorities and other key issues that may emerge over the next two years will then become the Chamber's 2003-2004 Job Providers Index, the Chamber's main basis for determining legislative campaign endorsements.

The Michigan Chamber of Commerce is a statewide business organization which represents approximately 6,500 employers, trade associations and local chambers of commerce. The Michigan Chamber was established in 1959 to be an advocate for Michigan's job providers in the legislative, political and legal process.

CONTACT: Betty McNerney, Director of Communications of Michigan Chamber of Commerce, +1-517-371-7663

PRNewswire -- Jan. 22

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SOURCE: Michigan Chamber of Commerce

Web site: http://www.michamber.com/