$50 million in federal funding won't reach Arizona projects because of government shutdown bill

In Arizona, $50 million in federal funding for local projects was eliminated as part of the government shutdown resolution that passed Congress earlier this month. The money is part of billions of federal dollars for local projects that won’t be disbursed.

Of those funds, $34 million was designated by Republican Congressman Juan Ciscomani for communities across his district. Part of that would have funded upgrading Tucson’s police vehicle fleet and revamping the city’s water system.

Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said the city will reapply for the funding but also look for alternative revenue sources.

“It undermines not just the funding cycle, but the faith in the system itself," Romero said.  

She also said the city has found it difficult to contact federal officials amidst the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal workforce.

"We are already confronting the inability of being able to talk to people at HUD and other departments," she said.

Justin Stabley

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KJZZ

Oro Valley was set to receive $7 million in federal funding to address repair bridges throughout the community. One of the town's engineer's said the loss in funding won't have an "immediate" impact on the schedule for bridge repairs.

Karl Shaddock, who's the assistant to the town manager of Oro Valley, said they hope the bridge repairs are taken under special consideration when they reapply for the funds next fiscal year.

In a statement to KJZZ, Ciscomani’s office said they’ll be working with project recipients to find alternative funding.

"Unfortunately, as I have conveyed to all of this year's recipients, I am very disappointed that the bipartisan Continuing Resolution Congress passed did not include any of the funds I secured through my work on the Appropriations Committee," he said.

In total, $13 billion worth of federal funding towards local projects nationwide was eliminated by the government shutdown resolution.