By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (Republican-Michigan’s 2nd Congressional District), who represents Wyoming and Kentwood, has spoken loud and often of the positive impact of Republican-led 2017 tax cuts for businesses large and small, and he did so again Tuesday at a “Coffee with Constituents” visit to Marge’s Donut Den in Wyoming.
At the April 23 event, donut shop owner Marge Wilson, herself, echoed the congressman as she spoke to WKTV about what the tax cuts have meant for her business and her now-enlarged employee payroll.
“I was hoping (that the business tax cut) would help, but I got more value than I definitely expected,” Wilson said to WKTV. “The qualified business tax deduction … for my business, that was significant. I bought a new (commercial) mixer with the amount of taxes that I saved, and our mixer was needed.
“And then the tax bracket was reduced 3 percent, which was another help. … I was able to hire more people and give them a substantial raise in pay.”
Wilson said she hired four full-time employees.
The positive result of the tax cut “is significant,” Rep. Huizenga said to WKTV at the event. “I hear it all the time … it is real and it allows people, like Marge, and others, to hire additional people, to invest in their business.”
According to information distributed by Rep. Huizenga’s office recently, since passage of the 2017 Republican tax cuts, economic growth hit nearly 3 percent, with just under 3.4 million new jobs and a 3.2 percent increase in hourly wages.
Rep. Huizenga’s visit to Wyoming was part of a series of “coffee hour” visits where not only the representative but members of his staff were present to assist 2nd District residents who have questions regarding federal policy or are having trouble with a federal agency. So far this year, according to his office, the congressman has held coffee hours in Hart, Baldwin, and Zeeland, and has participated in a town hall forum in Ludington.
The public meetings are “a touch point, having people who have very different perspectives and views, coming in and (my) spending a few minutes with them,” Rep. Huizenga said. “This is a good way for people to have that opportunity.”
Wilson said she appreciates the effort of elected officials such as Rep. Huizenga and local State Rep. Tommy Brann (R-House District 77).
“Both of those men excel at reaching out to people,” Wilson said. “They go where a lot of people go, so they are accessible. … Here they can have a coffee and a donut together, it’s a lot more relaxed. For those guys (Huizenga and Brann) to get out of their comfort zone and come to the people, I think that is huge.”
Tax cuts and donuts were only one (large) part of the discussion at Marge’s, and while many private constituent conversations remain so, Rep. Huizenga did talk to WKTV about how his work in Washington, D.C., has changed in the aftermath of the 2018 elections and the change of House of Representatives control to the Democrats.
“My priorities are the same it is just how do you work towards them,” he said. “It is different. I no longer have the ability as to what bill we are going to be taking up in a subcommittee. It is harder to directly influence (actions) but I still have the same goals and objectives,”
For more information about Rep. Huizenga’s office and how to contact his staff, visit huizenga.house.gov .
