Arizona politicans react to government shutdown bill getting passed

YUMA COUNTY, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Two Arizona politicans shared their reaction to the House and Senate passing a bill to avert a government shutdown Saturday.

Senator Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) issued a statement on the bill's passing saying:

"While I'm relieved we averted a shutdown, moments like this underscore the importance of setting aside partisan differences and focusing on solutions.

Government shutdowns hurt Arizonans in real and immediate ways—from forcing servicemembers and Border Patrol officers to work without pay to cutting essential services for seniors.

This crisis was entirely avoidable. Just days ago, we had a bipartisan agreement to keep the government open, and it was always clear that getting back to bipartisan cooperation is how we'd figure this out.  

Regardless of which party is in charge, our job is always to work together and put the needs of Americans first."

KYMA spoke to Senator-Elect Ruben Gallego when he was at the Tamale Fest in Somerton Saturday afternoon, where he shared his reaction to the government shutdown being averted:

"We're very happy. You know, what we were trying to do this whole time is to make sure that we put into the bill the things that we know this country needed, especially some of the farm aid that was in that bill. And when people say, like 'What took you guys so long?' We were trying all year to make sure we had enough farm aid for our farmers, but we could not get consensus from our fellow Republicans. And so, we wanted to make sure that we put it in there because there's a lot of them that were not gonna be able to make the payments that they need to make. Take out the loans they have to do. And so we're happy that we still get it."

The bill, signed by President Joe Biden, will fund the government through March 14.