Last coal-fired ferry stays alive under deal between EPA, shipping company Manuel Quinones, E&E reporter Friday, March 22, 2013 The Great Lakes' last operating coal-fired ferry will stay in business under an agreement between U.S. EPA and Lake Michigan Carferry Inc. The S.S. Badger -- which ferries travelers between Ludington, Mich., and Manitowoc, Wis. -- had until December to stop dumping its combustion ash into Lake Michigan. Managers and supporters on Capitol Hill thought the deadline could ... Read more

Pay Ratio Provision Not Worth Cost, Repeal Bill Sponsor Huizenga Says Bloomberg BNA - Mary Hughes | March 20, 2013 08:32PM ET (BNA) -- The pay ratio disclosure requirement of Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is a “perfect example of an unnecessary and complex regulatory requirement that is not worth the cost and should be repealed,” Rep. Bill Huizenga (R–Mich.) told BNA March 20. Huizenga introduced the Burdensome Data Collection Relief Act (H.R. 11... Read more

Huizenga, President Agree The Detroit News - Political Insider March 14, 2013 President Barack Obama visited Wednesday with House Republicans on Capitol Hill to build bridges for a grand bargain on the budget. U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, said although "a deep philosophical divide" remains between Republicans and the Democratic president on the role of government, he found some common ground with Obama: protecting the Great Lakes. After the discussion, Huizenga said he approached Obama, f... Read more

House GOP warily holds out hand to Obama CNN - Senior Congressional Producer - Deirdre Walsh March 13, 2013 Washington (CNN) -- When President Barack Obama enters the conference room in the Capitol basement Wednesday to sit down with House Republicans, he'll be met by a group that says it's willing to listen but deeply skeptical of the president's so-called "charm offensive." "There is clearly some healing to the relationship that has to happen on all sides. You don't solve that with one nice di... Read more

Bill Huizenga Q&A on the insanity of sequestration Mlive - Matt Vande Bunte March 11, 2013 GRAND RAPIDS, MI – What’s more insane, gashing federal spending by sequestration or continuing to spend money the country does not have? After two years representing Michigan’s Second Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, said gridlock in Washington, D.C. isn’t based on partisan political identification, but a philosophical gap. “The real divide isn’t 'R' versus 'D.' It really is the ... Read more

FYI - To watch Congressman Huizenga discuss the philosophical divide click HERE Watch U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga talk about philosophical divide between parties MLive March 12, 2013 GRAND RAPIDS, MI-- U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, spoke at the at the Grand Valley Metropolitan Council quarterly luncheon on the need for more compromise and trust between political parties on Monday, March 11, at the Calvin College Prince Center. "If you don't trust somebody, how do you do business with them?" he... Read more

Huizenga ‘Comfortable’ With Cuts, Says ‘We Need To Be Smarter About How To Spend The Limited Resources We Have’ The Ludington Daily News- Steve Begnoche March 6, 2013 U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga and his Republican counterparts are looking beyond the sequester cuts now filtering into place and are set to approve a continuing resolution that embraces the $85 billion in cuts in a budget to make it through the rest of the current fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. Huizenga continues to say the way cuts are... Read more

Canceling tours of White House due to cuts 'laughable' The Detroit News - Marisa Schultz March 7, 2013 Michigan's Republican congressional members were stunned when the Obama administration decided Tuesday to cancel White House tours because of staff shortages it attributed to the sequester cuts. They tried to stop a potential tourism drop from the Great Lakes State by reminding Michigan residents the Capitol Building where they work remains open for tours — in addition to other Washington attra... Read more

Policy, not politics, needed on Violence Against Women Act The Holland Sentinel Rep. Bill Huizenga March 6, 2013 We need to have programs in place to help women and children who have been abused, which is why I voted for the improved House version of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The House VAWA reauthorization was the strongest and best suited legislation to help all women, by providing the resources they need to protect themselves, their children, and their families. The Senate version... Read more

Huizenga Grills Bernanke on Long-Term "Entitlement" Funding Reform WHTC - Thursday, February 28, 2013 WASHINGTON (WHTC) - While most of the attention dealt with the here and now when Ben Bernanke appeared before the House Financial Services Subcommittee yesterday, one Congressman had something more long-term in mind when he had his five minutes with the Fed Chairman. Bill Huizenga had asked Bernanke how he would respond to “those who say that we can’t or shouldn’t reform” long-term federal progr... Read more