The North Shore Chamber accomplishes this mission by addressing the needs of the member firms by monitoring legislative issues that have an impact on the cost of doing business in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Over the past several years, the North Shore Chamber, along with other regional business organizations, has been a successful force in reducing the added burdens on business by keeping close ties with state, local and federal legislators. When an issue arises, the Chamber has been there to fight for the business point of view. Examples of these legislative issues include worker's compensation insurance rates, unemployment compensation rates, bank tax reform, single sales factor tax, seaport bond bill, property taxes/tax classification, water and sewer rate relief, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and several others.