By Ellen T. Horan – President & CEO
When people ask me if I watched the President’s State of the Union address, I said are you kidding, I took notes!
I look for opportunities to listen when our elected officials step out of the day-to-day political fray and express their vision and their leadership. Our Chamber Endorsement Taskforce does the same thing when they interview candidates for office. More important than an individual’s position on any one issue is their vision for our future and their potential to show leadership.
Some of the highlights of the State of the Union, I felt, were Obama’s proposed tax cuts for small business as a short term stimulus and his longer term call for strengthening education, expanding exports, and using nuclear and off-shore drilling to expand energy supplies.
I like that the first issue to come out in follow-up was an incentive based Jobs Proposal focused on small business. The incentives put in place in previous stimulus packages for car purchases, first time home buyers and energy efficiency home improvement products did stimulate consumer spending in those areas which was much needed. The incentive to increase wages will definitely be well received as many companies have frozen wages and/or reduced hours and would like to provide increases if at all possible in 2010.
The President suggests that small businesses that increase wages or hours for their existing employees will be reimbursed for the Social Security payroll taxes they pay on real increases in their payrolls.
The President’s intent to strengthen workforce focused on strengthening the country’s community colleges. Greater Reading is well positioned in that arena with a strong community college that has invested in a Technology Center and can only be stronger if more resources are brought to the table. The President also outlined ways to make college more affordable with tax credits for tuition payments and loan forgiveness. Increasing our education attainment levels is important for our region because we currently lag state and national averages in education levels, which is a significant competitive disadvantage.
Our region also has a higher than average employment rate in manufacturing with 30000 Berks Countians still employed in making things. Companies that export or that are tied to customers that export are better positioned to survive. Here, the President talked about stronger enforcement of trade agreements. That is very important, but we also need Washington to get serious about addressing other countries policies that set their currency at artificially low levels, most notably in China. US manufacturers are placed in a serious disadvantage. I was not surprised to hear our President call for increased investment in research and development in energy, with a focus on biofuels and clean coal. But I was surprised, and pleased, at his call for more nuclear power and off shore drilling for gas and oil. Our region’s energy dependence on coal based electricity would certainly benefit as we can advance clean coal technologies.
While we need to remain vigilant on the issues we oppose such as cap and trade, card check and many components of the healthcare bills, we need to also hold our elected officials accountable to showing leadership and vision in the areas of energy, workforce and our countrys global economic positioning. We need to let them know… we’re taking notes!
What were your thoughts on President Obama’s proposed items discussed druing the State of Union address?
