In The News

Rep. Bill Huizenga talks budget at early bird breakfast
The Holland Sentinel
Andrea Goodell
December 16, 2013

Rep. Bill Huizenga defended his vote to approve a compromise budget Monday morning.

“The problem is we have a divided government and two very different, distinct visions of where the country ought to be going,” he said, adding that the $1.12 trillion budget “saves more than it spends.”

The Zeeland Republican addressed the West Coast Chamber during the annual “Breakfast with Bill” event at the Commons of Evergreen in Holland.

Before voting on the budget, Huizenga said, he asked himself something:

“What would Ronald Reagan have done?”

The House budget compromise wouldn’t include new direct tax increases, and it would replace the across-the-board sequester cuts with targeted ones, Huizenga told the crowd. The bill spends $23 billion less.

“No, it’s not enough. However that’s the result of a divided government,” he said.

“(The vote for the budget) doesn’t mean I’m going to compromise my principles, but I can compromise on the details.”

The House agreement marks the most compromise either chamber has seen in months of brinkmanship.

“It will be interesting to see what happens on the Senate side, too,” Huizenga said, pointing to the recent change in Senate rules, removing the filibuster.

He also predicted an increase to the debt ceiling will pass when it comes up early next year, but he isn’t happy about the country’s spending habits.

“It used to take a really long time to deficit spend a trillion bucks, now it takes about a year,” Huizenga said, adding the Obama administration has been on “turbo drive” when it comes to spending.

An audience question about immigration reform now in the Senate prompted Huizenga to say, “The fact is our system doesn’t allow for our folks in the ag sector to have the workers that they need. … We’re not very immigrant friendly.”

While it isn’t realistic to deport every illegal immigrant, Huizenga said, neither does he see a pathway to citizenship adults who came here illegally.

The other big fight in Washington is, of course, health care. About 225,000 Michiganders have received insurance cancellation notices and fewer than 7,000 enrolled in new, independent health insurance policies, Huizenga said.

However, he admitted, “I don’t think anybody wants to go back to where we had been.”

He’d rather see a bigger push toward Health Savings Accounts, a mechanism he believes will make customers more in charge of their health care.

Although the dialogue has started to change in Washington, it will take an election before his colleagues can accomplish much, Huizenga said, more than hinting at a Republican-controlled Senate come November 2014.

As Huizenga wrapped up his remarks, the Great Lake District of the U.S. Chamber presented him with the Spirit of Enterprise Award for his 90 percent pro-business rating. Huizenga responded by taking a picture of the award and the crowd and telling them to follow him on Twitter, @repHuizenga.