Dear MI-03 Neighbor,

I’m driving home with the family after a jam-packed July in Washington, DC, serving West Michigan. As we wind our way through the sprawling farms of the Midwest, I’m swelling with pride as I think about the bill I introduced this week to help make this wonderful produce more accessible to low-income families shopping at farmer’s markets using their SNAP benefits (more below). Everything I do is rooted in and for the people of West Michigan, but as a U.S. representative, I love how our work from this seat can impact our great United States. 

Here’s a look back at our busy session week, and what’s in store for the week ahead.

Week in Review

We had a great week in DC this week. I had an opportunity to welcome the leadership team from GVSU and the Steelcase Foundation and kick off the REP4 conference on making sure higher education is keeping pace with today’s learners. I also had the opportunity to celebrate our interns for their incredible work this summer on National Intern Day, to wish the Coast Guard a happy birthday at a bicameral birthday celebration, and even welcome my fifth grade teacher, Mr. Erffmeyer, to my legislative office. If you would have told fifth grade Hillary Scholten she’d one day be the first woman in history representing her home in Congress, I never would have believed you–but it’s the honor of my life to be here doing this work. 

Legislative Actions

As you may have heard, our work on the House floor this week was to pass our appropriations bills–the bills that fund our government. I did not expect this to be easy. How we spend our taxpayer’s hard-earned money is truly one of the most contentious things we do in Congress. Republicans and Democrats have disagreed on the size and scope of the budget since the beginning of time. So, I came into this week, ready for a robust discussion. Unfortunately, we didn’t even get to vote on more than ONE of the appropriations bills because Republicans were so rumpled, they couldn’t even agree on a rule to get the bill to the floor. Rather than sticking it out through the night to do the work of the American people, they called for an early recess and high-tailed it out of town. We won’t return to DC for votes until September, leaving us with just a few short weeks to pass a budget and avoid a government shutdown. 

This week, I joined forces with Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) to introduce the Enabling Farmers to Benefit from Processing Nutrition Programs Act, legislation that would remove administrative hurdles that cause small and independent farmers and ranchers to miss out on the benefits from processing nutrition programs. West Michigan is known for its incredible fresh produce, and today I introduced legislation to ensure even more of our neighbors have access to it at local farmers markets.

The bipartisan Soo Locks Security and Economic Reporting Act of 2023 passed out of the House this week. The bill directs the Secretaries of Transportation and Defense, in addition to the Commandant of the Coast Guard, to study potential security risks of the Soo Locks. It also examines the economic consequences in the event of an operational failure and requests that these departments provide solution recommendations as well as their cost. The Soo Locks have come so far thanks to the hard work of Senator Stabenow and our Michigan delegation. Ensuring our state has the full understanding of security and economic risks involved with a failure at the Locks is critical to Michigan's future, and I'm glad to join a bipartisan group of colleagues to fund this study.

Committee Work

In the Small Business Committee this week, we had a hearing on supporting rural entrepreneurs. I asked the witnesses about the importance of strong infrastructure, especially water, in rural communities–it’s clear that many would not have chosen to invest in their region without the support of clean, reliable water, and strong broadband internet. These pieces are key to continuing to support rural entrepreneurs. 

We had a long mark-up session and a Coast Guard subcommittee hearing on Transportation and Infrastructure. I continue to advocate for the passage of my bill–the Pay Our Coast Guard Parity Act of 2023, which would ensure that the Coast Guard gets paid (like the other branches of the military do) in the event of a government shutdown. Our hardworking men and women in the Coast Guard deserve that job security.  You can see more and watch the hearings here.

District Work

This week, my district team was hard at work preparing for a busy week of events. Check out what’s to come below!

In case you missed it, our Funding Friday this week highlighted the expanded healthcare benefits for Veterans exposed to toxic substances made available in The PACT Act! If you file your claim or submit your intent to file by August 9, 2023, you may receive benefits backdated to 8/10/22! Va.gov/PACT

The Week Ahead

Our work ahead this week is so exciting, and honestly, too jam-packed to fit into one newsletter, here are some highlights:

• It’s Coast Guard festival week in Coast Guard City, USA (Grand Haven)! I can’t wait to spend time out on the lakeshore celebrating our incredible men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard. 
• On Tuesday, August 1, we’ll be hosting another live and in person town hall in Ottawa County. Please join us at 6:00 p.m. in Grand Haven at Central Park Place!
• I’ll be joining the Grand Rapids mayor and other community members from the region for a community conversation on gun violence in West Michigan. 

Hillary Scholten
Member of Congress