Rep. Mrvan hosts Valparaiso community forum

The recent trend of United States politicians visiting the city of Valparaiso this year has continued with a visit from Representative Frank Mrvan, who represents Indiana’s First Congressional District.

Mrvan journeyed to his home district to give a series of talks for his 2023 Community Forums. On April 10, he gave a congressional update in the Valparaiso City Hall Council Chambers to a roomful of eager constituents. 

That same day, Mrvan also visited Michigan City’s city hall and the Portage American Legion. The following day, April 11, he toured Lake County, stopping by the Purdue Lake County Extension in Crown Point, Indiana University Northwest, Calumet College of St. Joseph and the Wicker Park Social Center in Highland. 

Mrvan’s community forums were not unexpected. At the start of a new congress, politicians will sometimes return to their home state/district to meet with their constituents and discuss their previous legislative gains as well as future plans during their term in office. The 118th Congress began their term in January, so Congressman Mrvan reflected on four major pieces of legislation from his freshman term in the 117th Congress and remarked on what he looks forward to and hopes to accomplish in the 118th. 

Mrvan specifically discussed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. He emphasized improvements made in Northwest Indiana as a result of the bills, including advancements in infrastructure, the steel industry, education and the economy. 

“Our economy was able to recover fastest in the world during [the COVID-19 pandemic]. We were able to recover to this day 96% of those jobs that were lost,” Mrvan said. “As a member of Congress, I’m very proud of making sure that we were able to get the resources to the communities. Valparaiso [and its] school system received resources to be able to close that emotional-social gap, get things on track and invest in things like technology and infrastructure.”

On the university and college level, Mrvan discussed recent opportunities for both Valparaiso University and Purdue University. Mrvan helped Valpo’s College of Nursing and Health Professions secure $1 million in funding to update their Simulation and Experiential Learning Centers, which the university announced in early 2023. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mrvan recognized the community’s need to invest in healthcare due to the nursing shortage.

“What we did was a community-funded project [where] we worked with an eligible university to make sure that we fought for, advocated for and firmly approached the appropriations committee to say, ‘If we provide funding to Valparaiso University to enhance their nursing program with a simulation lab, we can potentially get students who need assistance [and] non-traditional students into that field [and] reduce the need of nursing students,’” Mrvan said.

Mrvan also recognized recent developments at Purdue’s West Lafayette campus thanks in part to the CHIPS Act. 

“[A] component to the CHIPS and Science Act which I think is vitally important is the educational component. Now throughout our country in different areas, there are [memory] chips and semiconductor mega plants that are opening up billion dollar investments — one of them is in Lafayette,” Mrvan said. “In a collaborative effort with Purdue University, Skywalker Industries and Purdue and their education technology are coming together to produce semiconductors and chips. Our students who go down I-65 [to Purdue] are now going to have the education to be able to learn how to engineer and manufacture semiconductors and chips and be able to be employed in plants like that.”

Mrvan’s community forums came after two political figures’ recent appearances in Valparaiso. First Lady Jill Biden visited the nearby Ivy Tech Community College in early March to tout the Biden administration’s advancements in clean energy and laud Ivy Tech’s gains in energy education (see “Jill Biden visits Valparaiso’s Ivy Tech campus”). On April 4, Indiana Senator Todd Young stopped at Valparaiso University to see improvements and opportunities within the engineering department (see “US Senator visits Valpo, tours engineering facilities”).

Mrvan is entering his second term as representative of Indiana’s First Congressional District, which encompasses Valparaiso University, and also currently serves on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and is the Vice-Chairman of the Congressional Steel Caucus.