Fair Share America Brought the 14-State National Campaign to Colorado to Highlight the Harmful Impacts of the GOP’s Federal Budget + Tax Bill

“How can you celebrate these terrible impacts on your own constituents?”- AZ State Senate Democratic Leader Priya Sundareshan asked of Rep Ciscomani

People in Congressional District 6 and all across Arizona deserve so much better.” - Nick Bruno, an AFSCME member and Tucson Unified School District bus driver

Tucson, Ariz. (July 11, 2025) – Today, Fair Share America, Unrig our Economy, and local state partners brought the “Stop the Billionaire Giveaway” national bus tour to Tucson to highlight the devastating impact of the recently-passed federal reconciliation bill on Arizona’s families, communities and economy.

The 45-foot tour bus, wrapped in a giant trillion-dollar bill, stopped in Arizona’s 6th Congressional District to send a clear message: working families should not have to pay the price for Republicans’ tax handouts to billionaires and big corporations that Rep. Ciscomani voted for.

Twelve-year-old Ximena Reyes shared her experience growing up with sickle cell disease:

“I grew up with sickle cell disease. I am 12 years old, and it’s very hard to live. Sometimes I have normal cells, but then the sickled cells get stuck together, and I go into a pain crisis. And this is why I think Medic[aid] is important—because if I get into a crisis, I don’t know which hospital to rely on.”

Fair Share America Executive Director Kristen Crowell responded: “Ximena, can I tell everyone your story? Can we say we need to hold these people accountable for turning their backs on us?”

Crowell opened the Tucson town hall by underscoring the root cause of the crisis and the stakes ahead:

“If the billionaires and corporate America paid the same tax rates as we did, we would not be here. We would not be enduring the largest cut to Medicaid in the history of this country. We would not be kicking millions of children, seniors, and veterans off food assistance. We would not be shutting the doors of hundreds of thousands of Head Start classrooms. This would not be happening if the billionaire class paid their fair share like the rest of us.”

State Senate Democratic Leader Priya Sundareshan spoke out against the bill’s long-term consequences for working Arizonans and the state budget.

“Our Medicaid program relies on billions in federal funding to keep people on health care and hospitals open. There's no way the state’s rainy day fund can cover the massive impact of this federal bill.”

“They're hoping that we're going to forget—but we are not going to forget. And I found it incredibly offensive that the day they passed this bill out of the House, we saw Representative Ciscomani smiling and taking a selfie on the House floor,” said State Senate Democratic Leader Priya Sundareshan. “How can you celebrate these terrible impacts on your own constituents? Over 31,000 people in CD-6 are on Medicaid.”

Pima County Supervisor Andrés Cano made clear the devastating local fallout the federal budget is already having on jobs, public health, and working families in Southern Arizona:

“This year alone, more than $100 million in federal funding to Pima County is at risk or already cut. That’s mobile clinics, food and rental assistance, vaccines, shelter services—gone…We’ll lose more than 5,000 jobs in our region and $542 million—that’s half a billion dollars—in local economic activity… So today we say: enough. Billionaires and corporations have rigged the system to protect their wealth.”

Garrett Newell, a local college student living with cerebral palsy, shared his fears about Medicaid cuts in the new law:

“Now, with this bill passing in Congress, my family and I are afraid we’re on the chopping block. I may have to start paying out of pocket for essential medical needs—like prescription glasses, eye doctor appointments, and therapy. I’ve struggled with my mental health before, especially in 2020 during the pandemic, and the idea of losing access to care puts me in a place of deep uncertainty.”

Nick Bruno, an AFSCME member and Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) bus driver, underscored how the law is already affecting schools.

“The kids on my bus might be coming to school hungry or going home without knowing when their next meal will be. Their food stamps are gone, their access to health care is gone, their families and caregivers are being cut off…People in Congressional District 6 and all across Arizona deserve so much better.”

Andre Diaz, an immigration attorney based in Tucson: “As for immigration, I know these $42 billion in additional funds aren’t going to the courts or due process—they’re going to unconstitutionally rip families apart. We’re already seeing it in L.A. and other major cities, and they’re coming for Tucson next. We are a blue city, and they’re going to try to make an example of us. This is about weaponizing federal dollars for harm.”

Pastor Kelli Knight of Catalina United Methodist Church offered a moral call to action:

“We are paying attention to the people who are paying the price—the people that get left behind—and we demand better,” said Pastor Kelli Knight. “So we're going to keep showing up, we're going to keep telling the truth, and we're going to stand together, shoulder to shoulder, to demand justice, to demand dignity, so that everybody—you and me and the widow—have a fair shot.”

A special thanks to our event partners including: Honest Arizona, Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), AFSCME, Working Families Power, IBEW 570

The full bus tour swing through Arizona includes three stops:

• Friday, July 11

  • 10 a.m.: Tucson

  • 2 p.m.: Oro Valley

• Saturday, July 12

  • 11 a.m.: Phoenix

Learn more about the “Stop the Billionaire Giveaway” bus online and on social media: @FairShare_USA on X and @FairShareAmerica (FB, IG, BS, Threads, TikTok).

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