EPA Intends to Propose Permit Decision On Coal-Powered Car Ferry by March 2013 By Anthony Adragna | December 19, 2012 (BNA) - The Environmental Protection Agency said it intends to make a decision by March 1, 2013, on whether to extend a Clean Water Act permit for one of the last remaining coal-powered car ferries in the United States to continue discharging coal ash into Lake Michigan. EPA said it has received more than 6,000 emails and letters from the public on the S.S. Badger's discharge pe... Read more

Bill Huizenga warns of 'fiscal cliff' implications for small businesses MLive - Greg Chandler | The Grand Rapids Press December 17, 2012 HOLLAND – U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga says small, family-owned businesses could be among those most affected if President Obama and Congress cannot agree on a solution to the so-called “fiscal cliff. Huizenga, R-Zeeland, illustrated the potential impact on one such business, a third-generation orchard in Mason County, during an address Monday to more than 500 peopl... Read more

Historic ferry SS Badger's future in doubt with EPA permit about to expire The Detroit Free Press, Todd Spangler - December 1, 2012 WASHINGTON -- A historic ferry that has shuttled passengers, vehicles and freight across Lake Michigan for decades is in danger of being put in permanent dry dock. The spotlight is again on the coal-fired SS Badger because a crucial federal permit that allows the steamer to dump coal ash into the lake is set to expire this month, while efforts are under way in the ... Read more

Rep. Bill Huizenga Receives 2012 FreedomWorks 'FreedomFighter Award' The Holland Sentinel September 25, 2012 Washington, D.C. - Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, was awarded FreedomWorks' "first annual FreedomFighter Award.” FreedomWorks is an activist organaization "fighting for less government, lower taxes, and more freedom." To qualify for the award, each recipient earned a minimum score of 90 percent on the FreedomWorks Congressional Scorecard during the 2011 legislative session. “Rep. Huizenga... Read more

Huizenga Pushes Prison Labor Reform; Local Businesses Could Benefit The Holland Sentinel Andrea Goodell September 22, 2012 Washington, D.C. — Rep. Bill Huizenga is leading a charge to rein in Federal Prison Industries, a federally-owned industry that provides everything from polo shirts to desk chairs for federal contracts. Those federal contracts, the Zeeland Republican says, should be available to companies such as those in his district, a major center of furniture manufacturing. FPI is allowe... Read more

Will a Federal Prisoner Steal Your Job? ABC News Alan Farnham Sept. 19, 2012 It's hard to compete with workers willing to take pay as low as 23 cents an hour. Do we mean workers in Mexico or China? No. We mean Americans in federal prisons. An Alabama clothing-maker recently found out just how hard, according to the Myrtle Beach Sun-News: American Apparel of Selma had to lay off 225 workers after it lost a contract for U.S. Army jackets to UNICOR, a $900 million behemoth with 89 factories around... Read more

Workplace travesty The Dothan Eagle ( Dothan, Alabama) Editorial September 19, 2012 Recently, American Power Source, an apparel manufacturing company that makes military uniforms at plants in Fayette, located in northwest Alabama, and in Columbus, Miss., announced its plants would close in October after its government contract expires. In the global economy, Alabama has lost thousands of textile jobs to overseas plants where labor is cheap; the loss of a few hundred more jobs should come as no s... Read more

AUDIO: Listen to Congressman Huizenga's full interview with Matt Patrick of KTRH HERE Manufacturers fear layoffs with no-bid process KTRH Nik Rajkovic September 19, 2012 Texas prisoners make everything from state flags to office chairs, ornamental fencing, even polo shirts. Now the national prison industry is going after military uniforms. Joel Ortega manages Excel Manufacturing in El Paso; he's worried he'll have to lay off workers if they lose their current contract. "We feel its very unfair ... Read more

Huizenga honored by small business group The Holland Sentinel Stephen Kloosterman September 19, 2012 U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, was honored Monday by a small business group. The National Federation of Independent Business, or NFIB, describes itself as a nonprofit and nonpartisan group focused on public policy issues important to small businesses. The group named Huizenga a Guardian of Small Business because of his voting record. As interpreted by NFIB, Huizenga voted in favor of small ... Read more

American Prison Labor Means Longer Unemployment Lines Fox News - Elizabeth Prann September 16, 2012 Two southeast companies that make U.S. military uniforms are shedding hundreds of jobs, as the government looks to federal inmates for the fatigues. American Power Source makes military clothing in Fayette, Ala., but its government contract expires in October. Federal Prison Industries – which also operates under the name UNICOR will snag the work, and leave the task to inmates. FPI has the first ... Read more