TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — As the federal government shutdown entered its second full day, Southern Arizona Hispanic business leaders and activists gathered Tuesday on Tucson’s Fourth Avenue to discuss how the stalemate in Washington could ripple through local communities.
At the “Cafecito y Chisme” roundtable, local leaders joined Democratic state and county representatives to raise concerns over food assistance, healthcare access and other federal services. Activist Lindsay Heimm said the uncertainty is already weighing heavily on families she works with.
“I talk to community members that are relying on SNAP benefits,” Heimm said. “They’re relying on Medicare/Medicaid.”
She added that broad cuts to federal programs risk destabilizing households across the region. “They’ve taken a broad swath to government subsidies and services that working class people rely on,” Heimm said.
Pima County Supervisor Andrés Cano, who represents Pima County District 5, blamed Republicans in Congress and the White House for failing to keep the government funded.
“We’ve got to continue holding this Republican Congress and this Republican president accountable for the cuts that are going to affect everyone here in Pima County, regardless of your party,” Cano said.
But U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, a Tucson Republican representing Arizona’s 6th Congressional District, rejected that argument.
“This is absolutely not the case,” Ciscomani said. “This shutdown is squarely at the feet of the Democrats, and that’s not an opinion, that’s a fact.”
Ciscomani noted that Republicans lack a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, needing seven more votes to pass a budget measure. He pointed to Democrats’ past support for a continuing resolution during the Biden administration as evidence of political maneuvering.
“It’s the exact same measure, the exact same budget that they supported under President Biden and can’t support under President Trump,” he said.
Cano countered that the partisan blame game will not resonate with most voters.
“I think most people, especially independents, people in the middle, are rejecting this nonsense happening right now,” Cano said.
The shutdown, which began when lawmakers failed to reach a spending agreement before the Oct. 1 deadline, has left federal workers facing furloughs and raised questions about delayed services, from food assistance programs to housing support. If the impasse continues, economists warn Arizona’s border communities and military families could feel the pinch first.
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Eddie Celaya is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9. Born in Tucson and raised in the Phoenix area, Eddie is a life-long Arizonan and graduate of the University of Arizona who loves the desert and mountains and hates the cold. Previously, Eddie worked in print media at the Arizona Daily Star. Share your story ideas with Eddie at edward.celaya@kgun9.com, or by connecting on Facebook or Instagram.
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