Kelly, Gallego Lead Arizona Democrats in Calling to Protect Impact Aid

Today, Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, along with Representatives Greg Stanton (AZ-04) and Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) sent a letter to Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon laying out how the Trump administration's politically motivated layoffs within the Impact Aid office will jeopardize critical funding for Arizona school districts serving tribal lands, military bases, and other federally impacted areas.

"As Members of Congress representing Arizona, which receives the largest allocation of Impact Aid in the country, we are deeply troubled by these layoffs and their potential to cause irreparable harm in schools across our state" the senators wrote. "By supporting federally impacted school districts with the funds necessary to meet their students' needs, Impact Aid fulfills an important and distinctive function. In Arizona especially, it is a lifeline for schools serving our tribal and military communities."

Impact Aid provides direct federal funding to school districts whose property tax bases are reduced by the presence of federal land. Because of Arizona's large amounts of federal lands, in FY 2025, Arizona received over $223 million in Impact Aid funding-the highest amount of any state-supporting 59 school districts across tribal and military communities. In many of these school districts, Impact Aid accounts for nearly half of their annual budgets.

Amid the ongoing Republican shutdown, the Trump administration illegally fired all staff in the Impact Aid Program Office, blatantly using the shutdown as cover to advance its anti-education agenda and dismantle programs that help vulnerable students.

"Already, the Impact Aid Program has faced persistent challenges due to decades of underfunding. The dismissal of federal employees tasked with administering Impact Aid payments only stands to exacerbate these issues, further undermining a vital source of assistance for federally impacted school districts," the lawmakers continued. "For these reasons, we urge you to reverse the recent layoffs at the Impact Aid Program Office. Without staff, it is unclear how the office will continue to operate, and without the office, it is unclear how federally impacted schools in Arizona and elsewhere will receive the payments and technical assistance they need."

To view the full letter, click here.