Your Advocate · Legislative Advocacy
A voice for local business where the rules get made.
Laws and regulations shape what your business can do – and most owners don’t have time to follow the General Assembly. Through InUnison’s partnership with the Virginia Retail Federation, local businesses stay represented and informed at the local, state, and federal levels, without doing the watching themselves.
Included with every InUnison membership – Core, Individual, and Team.
Why this matters
The decisions made in Richmond and Washington reach your register.
Taxes, labor rules, licensing, fees, reporting requirements – the terms your business operates under are set by people you’ll probably never meet, in rooms you’re not in. A single change can add cost, add paperwork, or close off something you were counting on.
One independent business has a hard time being heard on any of it. A large, organized group of them – represented by people who do this work full-time – is a different story. That’s what this benefit is: your business added to a collective voice, and a way to know what’s coming before it arrives.
What we do on your behalf
A partnership built for representation.
InUnison delivers this benefit together with the Virginia Retail Federation (VRF) – our sister organization, and the source of much of the legislative expertise and analysis members receive. VRF represents business interests with policymakers; InUnison brings that work, and what it means for you, into your membership.
Legislative representation
VRF represents business interests with policymakers and government officials at the local, state, and federal levels – on your behalf, whether or not any action is asked of you.
Issue monitoring
The legislative and regulatory landscape is tracked year-round, so issues that could affect local businesses are caught early – not after they’ve become law.
Legislative updates
Updates through the year, and especially during the Virginia General Assembly, on the legislation most likely to matter – written to explain the potential impact, not just the activity.
Action Alerts
When an issue could significantly affect your business and timely input could influence the outcome, an Action Alert gives you a clear way to weigh in.
New laws and compliance
When something passes, you get plain-language information on what changed and how businesses may need to adjust to comply.
Pro-business policy advocacy
VRF’s legislative policy guides its positions before the General Assembly and is centered on a pro-business approach.
How the work happens
From a bill you’d never see, to an action you can take.
Most of this runs quietly in the background. You usually only hear from us at steps four and five – and only step five ever asks anything of you.
Monitor the issues
VRF tracks legislation and regulation at the local, state, and federal levels, year-round.
Weigh the business impact
Each issue is assessed for what it could actually mean for businesses like yours.
Represent your interests
VRF carries a pro-business position to policymakers and officials – the collective-voice part of the benefit.
Keep you informed
You get an update that explains the issue and its potential impact – not just that a bill exists.
Ask for your voice, when it counts
If timely engagement could influence the outcome, an Action Alert tells you what’s at stake and what to do.
Explain the outcome
When a law passes, you get guidance on what changed and any new requirements to be aware of.
You shouldn’t have to watch the General Assembly to protect your business. That’s what the partnership is for.
Staying informed
How you’ll know when something affects you.
You don’t need to become a policy expert to get value from this. The job of every update is to make a relevant issue understandable and spell out what it could mean for your business.
Legislative updates
Shared by InUnison through the year, with more during the General Assembly session. Each one focuses on the issues most likely to affect local businesses and explains the potential impact in plain terms. When a new law passes, a follow-up covers how businesses may need to adjust.
Action Alerts
Sent when an issue could significantly affect your business and timely engagement could help influence the outcome. An alert lays out the issue and a specific, recommended action – so deciding whether and how to participate is quick.
You’ll find advocacy updates by email and in the InUnison member community.
If we ask you to act
What you might be asked to do.
Most of the time, nothing – you benefit from representation whether or not you ever lift a finger. When an Action Alert does come, here’s the whole path.
Receive the alert
It reaches you when timing matters – while input can still make a difference.
Understand the issue
The alert explains what’s being decided and why it could matter for a business like yours.
Take the recommended action
Usually something short – a message to a representative, or adding your name. The alert tells you exactly how.
Add your voice to the collective
Your response joins every other member’s, so local business speaks with weight on the issue.
Where these updates come from
Legislative expertise and many advocacy updates originate with the Virginia Retail Federation. VRF is InUnison’s sister organization, supporting pro-business legislation at the local, state, and federal level. Updates provided by VRF are identified as such – not every advocacy update is produced by InUnison directly.
Included with every membership
Legislative Advocacy and Action Alerts are part of Core, Individual, and Team membership – every InUnison member is represented and kept informed.
Where to learn more
Go deeper on advocacy.
Advocacy & Research at InUnison
How InUnison represents local business and gathers the data that informs it.
Visit Advocacy & Research →Virginia Retail Federation
Our advocacy partner and sister organization – pro-business representation at the local, state, and federal levels.
Go to virginiaretailfederation.com →Members: the advocacy space
Legislative updates and Action Alerts for members live in the InUnison community. Your membership is your access.
Open the member community →Common questions
Not all of them. Much of the legislative expertise and analysis comes from the Virginia Retail Federation, InUnison’s sister organization and advocacy partner. Updates that come from VRF are identified as such. InUnison’s role is to bring that work to members and help translate it into what it means for local businesses.
No. You benefit from collective representation even when no individual action is required. Action Alerts are opportunities to weigh in when timing matters – you decide whether and how to take part.
A time-sensitive message from the Virginia Retail Federation, sent when an issue could significantly affect your business and member engagement could help influence the outcome. It explains the issue and a specific recommended action – often a short message to a representative – so participating is quick.
All of them. Legislative Advocacy and Action Alerts are included with Core, Individual, and Team membership. See membership tiers →
They work together but stay separate. Research gathers and analyzes what local businesses are experiencing. Legislative Advocacy represents business interests and helps you understand and engage with legislative and regulatory issues. Research findings can inform advocacy when they’re relevant.
VRF’s legislative policy guides its positions on issues before the Virginia General Assembly and is centered on a pro-business approach. Its focus each year follows what’s actually moving through the legislature and regulatory process that could affect how businesses operate.