Delivering for our Communities as the Government Should
By: U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06)
As your Representative in Washington, D.C., it is my duty – and my honor – to be a voice for southern Arizonans in our nation’s Capital. I strive to advocate and fight for Arizona’s Sixth District in everything Congress does, from the bills we vote on to the funding we allocate.
As our state’s only member of the House Appropriations Committee, I have a seat at the table when Congress crafts its annual spending priorities, giving me the unique opportunity to ensure our district’s needs are prioritized on the federal level. It’s critical that Congress is careful and intentional with our federal dollars. Arizonans entrust the government with their tax dollars to be used for the true needs of their communities: enhancing infrastructure, providing for public safety, and supporting initiatives to improve our quality of life. And since day one in office, I promised to do just that—prioritize the needs of our district while maintaining a strong sense of fiscal responsibility.
Recently, the House Appropriations Committee completed our process for crafting the FY2025 spending priorities, in which I preliminarily secured $34 million in Community Project Funding. This funding would be allocated to 15 projects across all five counties in Arizona’s Sixth District, touching every corner of southeastern Arizona and every aspect of life. Each of these projects represents exactly what our government should be prioritizing, providing for school districts, police departments, water resources, improvements to roads and bridges, and more.
The funds also provide for our rural communities in the same way they provide for our larger cities. These areas, like the towns of Pima and Duncan, far too often are overlooked by our federal government. However, in the funding we secured, they could receive a combined total of nearly $3 million for road improvements. In a similar way, many of these projects will go towards much-needed and long-awaited updates. The City of Tombstone would receive over $989,000 to replace outdated equipment at their 50-year-old water facility. In Sierra Vista, $7 million may go towards Phase II of the. Buffalo Soldier Trail Reconstruction, which previously went two decades without repairs. This funding would revitalize our communities, breathing new air into overlooked overdue projects.
This would also provide for essential personnel in our communities. In Sahuarita and Tucson, over $5 million total would go towards new equipment for police officers and law enforcement. Casa Grande Union High School District would receive $1.8 million for an affordable workforce housing for teachers. And in Oracle, the fire district would be awarded over $300,000 for a new Air Curtain Burner/Incinerator (ACI), which, among other things, would improve safety for the local firefighters. Our teachers, law enforcement, and first responders do so much for our communities. These funds make sure they are taken care of, whether it’s a safer vehicle to drive, more effective equipment to use, or a roof over their head.
Securing this funding is no easy feat. On the federal level, we must compete with thousands of projects from almost every congressional district in the country. It takes strong local partners to secure these types of funds; I am grateful for my counterparts in our communities who joined me in advocating for these projects. This $34 million is a prime example of what can happen when we work together for the best interests of our district.
In FY 2024, I secured $26 million in funding for thirteen projects across all five counties in our district. While the process is far from over, I will continue to tirelessly work to get this funding across the finish line. Should these funds be passed into law, combined with the dollars, I will have secured $60 million for Arizona’s Sixth District. These projects are not bridges to nowhere; each dollar will go towards tangible and impactful changes in our backyards, delivering for our communities exactly how our government should be.