We had a very busy legislative week–from big bills on the House floor to two committee hearings. Here’s what we did:

This week, the Big Bill on the floor was SUPPOSED to be about funding the government (Congress’ Number 1 job). But, The Big News about The Big Bill is that it was such a bad idea, that Republicans pulled it before we could even vote on it. You might be saying to yourself–wait, this sounds familiar. You’re right. Republicans also sent us home in July (for SIX weeks) without finishing the job on the budget. And last year–they did the same thing, time and time again. They were so reckless with our budgeting and spending, that the United States of America’s credit rating was downgraded last year–from AAA to AA. All for political theater. It’s an incredible waste–a waste of time, and a waste of our taxpayer dollars.

So, I hope you’ll indulge in this for a moment because I want to talk about Fiscal Responsibility. For Real. And it’s important to understand what’s happening here because the details matter. Again, after going on vacation for August without finishing their job, House GOP came into this week proposing to keep the government open with what’s called a continuing resolution (CR)–BUT, they attached an extreme policy bill to the funding proposal that would suppress the votes of veterans and seniors. You can read more about the Big Bad Bill here. 

I–and many of my House Democratic colleagues–called their bluff early. We implored Speaker Johnson to replace that bill with a “clean CR” until December to create stability and ease anxieties around the country, and–MOST importantly–move on to addressing the Farm Bill and budget shortfall at the VA. Three full days into the legislative session, and just HOURS before the vote, Speaker Johnson pulled the bill. But he put nothing in its place. No plan. Not even the concepts of a plan.

That’s frustrating in and of itself, but you might be saying to yourself, ok, well, he needs time to go back to the drawing board for a plan. But, what a lot of Americans forget is this: We already have a plan. We passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2023 last year for a reason. This reason. The FRA sets funding level guidelines through 2025 and specifically prohibits the addition of radical policy waivers. The way forward has already been agreed to. Republicans are not only introducing bad policy–they’re going back on their word. That’s not how I was raised. (Also–the Speaker had all of August to figure this out).

The American people are counting on House Republican leadership – counting on US – to not allow our rights to be steamrolled by extremists who are willing to sacrifice our well-being if we don’t give into their demands on voter suppression, or another radical policy issue. There’s a time to talk policy, and a time to negotiate dollars and cents. It's time to be fiscally responsible and stop wasting time and money. It's time to pass a clean CR.

"China Week" Bills

Republicans also brought a series of messaging bills this week on U.S.-China relations. When it comes to China, we MUST do everything possible to ensure that the United States is strategically positioned to maintain a competitive advantage, while also ensuring national security is protected. At the start of my term, I voted for a Republican-led bill to create a bipartisan commission on our strategic relationship with China. We must be making smart economic decisions about any engagement with Chinese companies or subsidiaries, not knee-jerk reactions based on tinfoil-hat conspiracy theories. You can read about my votes and explainers below. While many of these bills were deeply problematic, there were some that, despite challenges, I felt were in the best interest of West Michigan, and I voted yes. Here’s a recap:

This week on the Transportation and Infrastructure Water Resources and Environment subcommittee hearing, we had an important discussion on how to move forward after the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA. This drastic cut to the federal government’s ability to regulate our water and keep it clean has created a VERY uncertain playing field for local governments, farmers, and housing developers in particular. While many argue fully turning these issues over to the states, there’s a big problem there. Our water is interconnected. The Great Lakes border five different states and two countries, our rivers flow across state boundaries, and minerals and toxins alike from neighboring states leach into our groundwater system. Why should Michigan farmers have to pay the price for dirty water because of Ohio pollution?!? We shouldn’t. We absolutely MUST have national standards and uniform oversight across the country. 

You can watch the full hearing here, and my questioning below.