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Advocacy

Federal Legislative Agenda

The 2026 Federal Legislative Agenda for the Cobb Chamber represents our commitment to advance a vibrant and thriving economy by enhancing the business climate and quality of life for Cobb County, the region, and the state of Georgia.

Federal Legislative Agenda

Cobb County’s business community continues to show resilience amid inflation, workforce challenges, shifting consumer behavior, tariffs, and federal disruptions. With Georgia ranked the top state for business for 12 consecutive years, the Cobb Chamber’s 2026 federal legislative agenda supports a thriving economy by improving the business climate and quality of life for its 2,600 members, representing over 18,000 business leaders. Priorities for 2026, across four policy areas, include:

  • Urge bipartisan passage of the budget before the new fiscal year to avoid continuing resolutions (CR).
  • Support comprehensive regulatory and permitting reform to create a more predictable, efficient, and transparent federal process that reduces delays and costs for energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, and other sectors.
  • Support modernizing the capital gains exclusion to increase housing inventory and help first-time homebuyers enter the market.
  • Support appropriations to add C-130Js at Dobbins Air Reserve
  • Support federal appropriations for Cobb County mobility projects benefiting the county, its seven cities, and the Cumberland, Town Center, and Gateway Marietta Community Improvement Districts.

 

Fostering a Resilient Economy

  • Support federal cybersecurity improvements through public-private partnerships, unified federal requirements, and policies such as long-term reauthorization of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing
  • Oppose legislation, regulations, or programs that raise taxes, hinder economic growth, create barriers to job creation, or impede employers’ ability to attract and retain talent; support legislation that reduces regulatory burdens and compliance costs for small businesses.
  • Support the use of robust, peer-reviewed science and risk-based determinations in legislation and regulatory policy, and support liability protection for businesses against frivolous lawsuits.
  • Support apprenticeship and job training programs that prepare workers for future workforce
  • Support programs and policies that reduce barriers to affordable childcare, and support expanding the employer-provided childcare tax credit and other market-based incentives that empower, rather than mandate, businesses to invest in childcare benefits, strengthening workforce participation and competitiveness for working parents and employers alike.
  • Support federal funding for community-level grants that assist entrepreneurs and small business start-ups, and support equal tax treatment across all retail sectors.
  • Support a federal consumer privacy law that gives businesses a clear, streamlined compliance
  • Support policies that ensure safe, reliable, and affordable
  • Support policies that combat organized retail crime and counterfeit
  • Support Congressional action to increase southern border and port-of-entry resources and implement modern, efficient employment verification reforms.

 

Infrastructure and Transportation

  • Support efforts to sustain and enhance investments in transportation and infrastructure to move goods and people efficiently, effectively and safely.
  • Support policies that encourage the growth and modernization of telecommunications, energy, and technology infrastructure.
  • Oppose unnecessary regulations on federally funded infrastructure projects and support policies that streamline federal oversight.
  • Support the streamlining of competitive grant program application processes to better direct projects of local priority to the most competitive grant applicant.
  • Support legislation allowing greater flexibility in federal funding programs for multimodal options incorporating highway and transit elements.
  • Support Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) and Community Project Funding (CPF) requests directing federal dollars to specific Cobb County projects, in addition to programs such as Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ), Safe Streets for All and Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).
  • Support regulatory modernization to enable the safe deployment of shared autonomous vehicles and update statutory funding eligibility definitions to keep pace with emerging transit solutions.
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Healthcare

  • Enable greater flexibility for businesses as they offer healthcare coverage to their employees.
  • Enable greater flexibility for businesses as they offer healthcare coverage to their
  • Support adding full tax deductibility of health plan premiums for individuals, businesses, and business
  • Support workforce development efforts to assist hospitals and public health with the national healthcare workforce shortage.
  • Support the expansion, offering, and enrollment in diverse coverage options like association health plans to decrease costs and increase access for small businesses.
  • Encourage passage of the Save Healthcare Workers Act (H.R. 3178/S. 1600) as the bipartisan legislation would make it a federal crime to assault a hospital staff member on the job.
  • Urge the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to fully account for inflation in payment updates (including FY 2027 and beyond) to assist with the continuing strain on healthcare resources, such as hospitals, public health, and long-term care facilities, and the healthcare workforce.
  • Urge CMS and Congress to create a permanent telehealth and hospital-at-home program rather than relying on temporary Current Medicare telehealth flexibilities run through December 31, 2027, and the Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver through September 30, 2030; permanent authority would provide greater long-term access and certainty for patients and providers.
 
 

Safeguarding Dobbins Air Reserve Base and Supporting Growth of Our Military and Defense Community

  • Support the concurrent and proportional fielding of newer weapons systems at Dobbins to match the disproportionally modernized capabilities of the Active-Duty component of the Air Force.
  • Support for additional National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) policy provisions that strengthen employment and family support resources for military families.
  • Oppose CRs, which fail to provide predictable training, stable recruitment, and pre-planned orders for Reservists.
  • Support the immediate availability of TRICARE Reserve Select Insurance for Air Force Reservists, who are also federal civilian employees, which comprise a large portion of the population in Cobb County.
  • Request a comprehensive DoD study to evaluate Reserve Component dental care, assess costs, and quantify the impacts to Reservists in all our local communities.
  • Support military duty status reform aimed at simplifying the complex system of 30 duty statuses to four for Reserve Component servicemembers.
  • Support full adds for C-130J and F-35 aircraft that provide 20,000+ direct and indirect Georgia jobs and for Dobbins to receive new C-130Js as part of ongoing recapitalization efforts.
  • Urge support for an F-35 multi-year procurement contract that builds on progress across key munitions programs under the Department of War’s Acquisition Transformation Strategy. A 10-year, all-variant contract would strengthen supply chain stability, boost production efficiency and aircraft availability, and deliver meaningful taxpayer savings.
Contact:
Amanda Seals

770-859-2322

Email Amanda
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