Legislators celebrate Yuma County wins
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Tuesday afternoon, Arizona Western College (AWC) hosted Yuma County’s state elected officials from districts 23 and 25, as they discussed outcomes of the 2023 legislative session during a public town hall event.
The legislative panel included Senator Brian Fernandez and Representative Michele Peña from Legislative District 23, as well as Representative Tim Dunn, and Representative Michael Carbonne from Legislative District 25.
The state legislators discussed policy and budgetary wins for the community and the college regarding workforce development, education, and water, including millions of dollars for Arizona Western College.
“This year when we were looking at what we wanted to spend our money on, I decided that I wanted to spend 15 million dollars here at AWC. There are so many programs that we’re going to bring here,” said Senator Fernandez.
Fernandez said he's proud of the historical wins for AWC and the entire community this past legislative session.
He said Yuma's community college is a key workforce and economic driver in our city, and it was his top priority to secure a $15 million investment for workforce development programs at the college.
Another panelist, Representative Michael Carbone shared one of his greatest accomplishments from the session.
“One of the things I worked on was a bill that helped with infrastructure with the cities putting in roads, water and sewer to bring in manufacturing to the state of Arizona,” said Representative Carbonne.
Carbonne said this will also bring more blue-collar jobs to the state.
Representative Tim Dunn said one something important he worked on, was securing water for local farmers, by giving them incentives to save water in the Colorado River.
“We actually have an efficiency program that if you make 20 percent savings, you go through the cooperative extension and you apply for the grant, it's very vetted. We did 30 million two years ago, and 15 million in the budget this year,” said Representative Dunn.
The legislators say they’re proud to show off the work they do at the state capitol on behalf of the Yuma community.
