What Federal Budget Cuts Mean for Arizona Businesses

Arizona is a "community first" state. We tend to look at life a bit more simply down here, taking care of our own, and supporting local businesses as opposed to massive shopping chains.

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As President Trump's new administration gets to work "cutting the fat" from the U.S. government, Arizona small businesses are beginning to feel the pressure.

Cuts are Happening Across Arizona

The goal of the early days of this administration has been to make government spending as efficient as possible, and this means cutting many programs that are seen as unnecessary.

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Two specific programs were put in a federal freeze until a budget has been figured out, but this will immediately negatively impact many Arizona businesses and farmers. They're now scrambling for an answer before time takes its toll.

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What Programs are Being Frozen?

The first major freeze is the Inflation Reduction Act, a program that helps farms switch to drought-tolerant crops and small businesses switch to solar energy. This comes in the form of grants, which act as reimbursements after money has been spent. Local farms are now not receiving that reimbursement money, leading many to plan for bankruptcy.

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The other program is Rural Energy for America, which again, helps provide solar energy to small businesses in rural areas. This also takes the form of reimbursements, which have not been seen since the Department of Agriculture froze funds to review the program under new orders from the White House.

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These cuts and freezes have decimated many Arizona small businesses, catching them off guard and leaving them with no help. We can only hope some kind of relief comes in soon, or get ready to eat nothing but Safeway for the next decade.

[KNAU NPR]