Potential Harm to Our Community’s Priorities Through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

As I’ve written here before, city staff and council pay close attention to legislation at the state and federal levels. Based on the needs of the community, the council determines our annual legislative policies and tracks bills that impact those priorities. We remain in regular communication with state and federal representatives throughout the legislative sessions and visit with them at least once a year.

These relationships are important to ensure we’re weighing in on legislation and advocating for the needs of Flagstaff residents. We’ve had success in securing support and funding for forest health, flood mitigation, transportation infrastructure, water projects, airport infrastructure, climate action and public safety.

Potential harm to the community’s priorities have led me personally and through my professional affiliations, and the council as a whole, to weigh in on several elements of the reconciliation bill known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act after it was passed in the House of Representatives on May 22 by a one vote margin.

At that time, I was concerned about several elements of the bill and requested that staff prepare an opposition letter for Senate leadership, to which the council unanimously agreed. The first of two elements we opposed was the repeal of any unobligated funding from key programs in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), while also making significant cuts to the Department of Energy’s budget.

Our letter stated that these changes would hinder innovation, grant opportunities and technical assistance for cities like Flagstaff, weakening economic development across Arizona and forcing the state to abandon critical infrastructure and clean energy projects that were poised to create jobs. The Act would also repeal residential clean energy and energy efficiency credits, which would directly affect community members’ ability to make their homes more efficient, healthy and comfortable. It would also negatively impact small businesses in the energy sector.

In addition to the harmful impacts to clean energy, our letter spoke to the abolishment of the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) State Rental Assistance Block Grant, effectively ending federal rental assistance and public housing formula grants, putting Flagstaff low-income renters and families at greater risk.

We then sent a letter to Arizona Senators Gallego and Kelly and Congressional District 2 Congressman Crane urging them to preserve HUD’s funding for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) programs. In the last program year, 955 local low-income individuals benefited from CDBG-funded projects and services, most of whom have a household income at or below 30% of the Area Median Income.

When the reconciliation bill reached the Senate, Utah Senator Mike Lee, chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee spearheaded a provision to make millions of acres of public land available for sale. Recognizing the disastrous impact of such a move, I again asked staff to prepare a letter of opposition, which the City Council unanimously supported sending. To our relief, the provision was stripped from the bill by the Senate’s parliamentarian, but the Senator has already indicated he plans to propose a smaller number of acres for sale.

There are other provisions in the House version of the bill that are cause for concern, including cuts of nearly $300 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps – a lifeline that helps people in our community keep food on the table. Arizona SNAP participants currently average less than $6 a day in benefits, and roughly 25,000 people right here in Congressional District 2 are at risk to lose some SNAP benefits, while an additional 14,000 are at risk to lose all. The specter of these cuts to this important program led me to partner with Ethan Amos, president and CEO of the Flagstaff Family Food Center, to write an opinion piece calling out the potentially disastrous local impact.

As I write this, the Senate is set to vote on their amended version and send it back to the House. Ultimately, both the House and Senate must agree on the same version. Everything I read indicates the bill won’t have any Democratic support but is likely to pass with most of both House and Senate Republicans in support.

I’ll keep actively engaged in legislation impacting our community and will always advocate for what, after careful study, I believe to be in our best interest. I appreciate hearing from you about your thoughts on local policies, so please always feel free to reach out. FBN

By Becky Daggett

Becky Daggett is the mayor of Flagstaff.