Ciscomani vs Ciscomani

CR hits local projects … Time to scramble even more … And who would insure that?

Republican Congressman Juan Ciscomani spent his first term in Congress playing the exact political game he was elected to play: bringing federal dollars back to his district.

At the moment, he has 14 projects worth an estimated $33.8 million in federal funding he personally advocated for on behalf of various local jurisdictions in his congressional district.

He has also sent a lot of press releases taking credit for those earmarks.

And then with a single vote, he likely obliterated his earmarks for dozens of programs in southern Arizona.

Why would Ciscomani vote for a resolution that gutted all his hard work to get federal funding for projects benefitting southern Arizona?

We’d love to know. We called, texted and e-mailed starting last week asking for an interview or at least a comment. We waited, but his office never responded.

He did, however, have time to give a sound bite last week to KGUN about Bernie’s recent trip to Tucson.

When President Donald Trump asked House Republicans that there be “no dissent” among the Republican Party on the continuing resolution (CR) for the remainder of the fiscal year 2025 federal budget, Ciscomani voted yes along with the rest of the GOP – with the lone exception from a Republican from Kentucky.

Since Ciscomani isn't talking, we’ll take a look at what the CR may have killed in southern Arizona:

• $17 million to Oro Valley to fix bridges showing "signs of deterioration, including spalling and cracks extending to the reinforcement."

• $3 million to the Town of Marana to build a new treatment facility to remove PFAS from ground water

• $1.5 million to the Casa Grande Elementary School District to convert a building to hold after-school programming

• $800,000 to the Town of Sahuarita to buy 70 new police radios

While it makes some people uncomfortable, the time-honored tradition in Washington of using earmarks to move programs forward is common.

From Yuma to Tucson to Nogales, elected officials have been making the rounds for years to advocate for important local projects that don’t necessarily fall under the jurisdiction of a specific federal agency, or in some cases aren’t getting the attention they deserve from the federal government.

We’re looking at you, U.S. Department of Transportation – how long have Arizonans been asking for funds to expand Interstate 10 between Tucson and Phoenix?

A new wrinkle

We’ve devoted a lot of space here in the Tucson Agenda to unpacking how a series of executive orders, spontaneous DOGE-related mass layoffs, and quasi-bureaucratic/legal reviews have impacted programs in southern Arizona.

While every local agency is still grappling with how these disruptions in federal funding impact their day-to-day operations, local governments are also bracing for the possibility of unannounced ICE raids on municipal-owned property, not to mention the existential dread of waiting for the next shoe to drop from the Trump administration.

But the loss of these earmarks is a new wrinkle that just made it harder for the City of Tucson to move forward with previously announced programs.

There are two issues at play – earmarks for specific projects not included in the CR and whether the new CR maintains the same funding levels as last year when it comes to projects in southern Arizona.

Last week, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero told her colleagues that $10 million in projects were dead – even though they were supported by members of the Congressional delegation.

”The inability to pass full-year appropriations, the reliance on short-term continuing resolutions, and the ongoing political gridlock have made it nearly impossible for cities like Tucson to plan effectively for our future. And now the consequences of that dysfunction are hitting home,” Romero said.

Despite making it through the congressional appropriations process, some of Tucson's most critical projects will not receive federal funding, including money that was earmarked by other members of Congress, Romero said.

“This is not just disappointing, it makes a mockery of congressional-directed spending processes. The entire point of this system is to allow local governments to identify community needs and work in partnership with our congressional delegation to deliver results for Tucsonans,” she said.

Those projects include:

• $4 million for the Speedway and Stone affordable housing development

• $3.5 million for the Tucson Police Department's vehicle fleet modernization program

• $3 million for the Tucson Pima County Navigation center, which would expand shelter support services for unhoused individuals

Romero also mentioned that long overdue improvements to Barrio Nopal Park, along with a water sustainability project to expand Tucson's reclaimed water system on the northwest side, will not receive federal support under the new CR.

Over at the county

Pima County also advocated for earmarks in FY25 but did not receive any funding.

Sarah Davis, a senior advisor in the Pima County Administrator's Office, said they are taking a closer look at the CR to see how it might impact the county.

Several county agencies, including the Health Department and Community & Workforce Development, are deeply dependent on federal funding.

Davis said they are doing an analysis right now on how the recently passed CR compares to previous federal funding (which, in itself, was passed by a CR last year.)

“What we're doing now is crosswalking the contents of the continuing resolution, specifically the budget changes and the budget line items, to look at our grant portfolio, specifically our block grants and our state pass-through grants to see if, from the federal level, if those block grants are going to be affected from big federal funders such as HUD, Department of Health and Human Services,” she said.

County staff is scrambling to unpack the changes, but Davis cautioned that a good analysis would take time.

Pima County is also facing a battle on another front with the Trump administration, which is withholding an estimated $10.2 million in funding tied to the county-run shelters for asylum seekers.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted last week to aggressively advocate to be reimbursed for the funding, noting they followed all federal regulations.

Tucson and Pima County, while the largest agencies in southern Arizona with federal spending, are not the only recipients of federal grants. We’ve reached out to a number of local governments to understand their issues as well.

For now, we will continue to ask Ciscomani how he plans to represent southern Arizona as political norms like earmarks begin to collapse.

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New border plan: The Trump administration’s border policies could soon include soldiers holding migrants in a proposed military “buffer zone” along the U.S.-Mexico border, the Washington Post reported. In the past, soldiers deployed to the border usually performed support work, as a way to free up Border Patrol agents and customs officers to do actual enforcement work. Federal law doesn’t allow active-duty soldiers to do civilian law enforcement, but if the border area is a military installation then they can apprehend people for trespassing on a military base. Fort Huachuca in Cochise County is a hub of the Trump administration border plans, including 500 active-duty soldiers from New York who are stationed there. But officials at the fort wouldn’t give any details about the proposed buffer zone and the new role of the military to the Arizona Daily Star’s Emily Bregel. The U.S. Navy did announce they’re sending a guided-missile destroyer to “restore territorial integrity at the U.S. southern border.”

Too much uncertainty: The Trump administration’s wide-ranging cuts to federal spending continue to ripple through Arizona. Uncertainty about federal research funding led University of Arizona officials to push pause on their plan to build a $300 million biomedical hub in Phoenix, AZFamily’s David Baker reports. The plan has been in the works for years, and UA officials said they are still committed to the project. But they said they need to reassess “given the uncertainties.”

Not exactly state secrets: Another ripple from Trump administration policies just hit national parks, which have already seen staff cuts in Arizona due to DOGE-led firings. Despite Saguaro National Park having a banner year in terms of visitors, park staff aren’t allowed to talk about it, the Star’s Henry Brean reports. The National Park Service sent an internal memo to staff at parks saying they can publish visitation data on their websites, but they’re not allowed to send out news releases or post about it on social media.

Difficult times: When Tucson Unified School District officials get an update on their budget today, they’re going to face some hard choices, Tucson Sentinel columnist Blake Morlock writes. Thanks to shrinking enrollment and parents using vouchers to put their kids in private schools, TUSD officials already have a hiring freeze in place and they’re looking at spending cuts to make up for a $21 million budget deficit.

Rising in the ranks: The City of Tucson named their new interim fire chief, the Star’s Charles Borla reports. Sharon McDonough, a deputy chief who leads the city’s Public Safety Communications Department, will take over for Chief Chuck Ryan, who announced last week he plans to retire.

We had a feeling last month that the Cinco de Mayo Bull Run Festival at Old Tucson was in trouble.

Something had spurred Pima County’s top official to write a memo to remind the public that the organizer of the event bears full responsibility and the County would be closely monitoring the insurance details.

Last week, the County announced the event would not be held at all - because the promoter could not get insurance for the event.

Who could have imagined it would be so hard to get insurance for people with no training to run a quarter-mile with 12 angry bulls chasing them?