ARTICLE
We currently have one of the most wild, non-traditional, presidential elections most of us have ever experienced. By this time Wednesday, we will know who our president will be for at least the next four years. No matter which candidate wins, the first year is going to be a challenge. There are a lot of hurt feelings, bitterness, and "get even" attitudes out there and like in the past eight years, compromise isn't going to be a common occurrence. It's no secret that our current president hasn't been the most anxious to compromise and has had little of any interest in working across the aisle. On occasion Vice President Joe Biden, a seasoned Washington politician, has been his surrogate given his knowledge of the players. The problem is that little gets accomplished when both sides dig in and we, the citizens, pay the price in the end. Think about it: The wage gap is getting wider, the deficit continues to grow, middle class is shrinking and anything that seems to happen is based on "executive order" or a regulatory mandate from one of the president's Cabinet departments. Gone are the days when two party leaders stand side-by-side announcing a "compromise" (remember that word) bill and a piece of legislation gets passed. This new law might not have made everyone happy but at least you knew we were proceeding. The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce's public policy committee, under the leadership of Michelle Young, is taking a different tactic most recently. The committee is made up of representatives of the wide geographic area given our numerous partnerships. In addition, there are representatives from our newer 21st Century Councils representing the Hispanic Chamber, the African American Leadership Council, Young Professionals Council, and more. The goal is to have everyone at the table in an effort to reach consensus across this broad geographic and demographic Lehigh Valley. This committee of over 25 Lehigh Valley leaders has time and again reached a middle ground. While not everyone has gotten what they wanted, there were no arms folded "my way or the highway" posturing but, an "we're all in this together, let's move on to the next issue" attitude. So, instead of zero movement in minimum wage, we advocated for $9.25/hour. Middle ground from the current $7.25 and not the business shocker of $15 proposed, and in fact passed, as law in some areas in the United States. When it came to the upcoming employee overtime exemption edict from the U.S. Department of Labor, we proposed an increase in the minimum salary in which employees are eligible for overtime from $23,660 to $37,500. The Obama administration has seen fit to propose, stand firm and not budge from the soon-to-be enacted minimum salary of $47,476. Talk to some of your local nonprofit organizations to find the huge impact this arms folded "doubling" will have on them. People who worked with such passion and never minded the time commitment, will now either have to quit at 40 hours or risk putting their tightly budgeted organizations in financial jeopardy. When it comes to our crumbling infrastructure that is stalling economic progress, we partnered with Lehigh Valley trade unions, knowing full well we had to go through the painful reality of identifying a long-term funding source. Again, we found compromise to ensure job creation and financial stability. Unless we all bend a bit and check our egos and opposition to change, the next four years will look very similar to our recent past. I have a million reasons to dig in on all kinds of pro-business legislation and look very strongly committed in the process. I vote for a continued openness to compromise and though we not get exactly what we advocated, we'll get something in between and make PROGRESS!!! Tony Iannelli is president and CEO of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. His column appears weekly on the Business Cycle. He can be reached at tonyi@lehighvalleychamber.org. Click here to read the original article.