Fallout from the record 43-day shutdown of the US government and the ongoing political battle between President Donald Trump and Governor Gavin Newsom has started settling at Visalia City Hall.
The chances of additional federal dollars flowing into the coffers at Visalia City Hall seemed good at the start of 2025. The city’s lobbying firm in Washington, DC – Thorn Run Partners – pushed for half a dozen funding packages that would bring money into the city. It managed to get our federal representatives to support four of them.
In the end, however, only two of Visalia’s projects were funded. It wasn’t for a lack of trying.
City’s Hired Politico Pushed Where He Could
At its final meeting of the year on December 15, Thorn Run’s Greg Burns told the Visalia City Council he took a more forward stance on the city’s behalf in 2025, and it seemed to pay off.
“We did have a very aggressive approach to finding federal funding through the community funding process this year,” he said. “We ended up requesting six funding requests through a variety of different methods.”
This new approach, he said, was possible because of Visalia’s odd political situation. The last redrawing of congressional districts split the city between two representatives on opposite sides of the political fence: Republican Vince Fong (20th District) and Democrat Jim Costa (21st District).
“You all are lucky in a sense to have two members of Congress with your two senators, and that is a little unique,” Burns said. “One thing you can do is send each member of your delegation slightly different requests to make on your behalf.”
Playing two ends against the middle seemed to work. Then it didn’t.
“It was nice that four out of the six projects the city put forward were selected by your delegation to put them forward,” Burns told the council. “Of course that doesn’t always mean that the funds are provided, but it’s at least a step in the right direction.”
When the government shut down in November, it had only passed three of the 12 appropriations bills it was considering. Only two of those held funding for Visalia’s projects: $2 million through Fong’s office for a groundwater recharge project, and $250,000 through Costa’s office for the widening of Riggen Avenue, which was less than the city had requested.
Burns said it was not a case of Costa neglecting Visalia’s interests.
“I know that that level is lower than what we’d like, and it doesn’t help us to advance the project in the way we’d like it to advance,” he said. “I don’t think that’s necessarily a reflection of Congressman Costa’s appreciation or admiration for the city or his level of effort.”
Instead, he blamed the way spending bills are processed for the shortfall.
“I think, unfortunately, sometimes there’s luck of the draw involved, and staff, in this case the subcommittee situations, just don’t show the love for the project we would’ve liked,” Burns said. “That’s one of those we need to keep working on.”
Visalia Lost Out When Congress Paused
An ongoing congressional resolution reopened the government and will keep it open through at least the end of January, but Congress has not been in session and won’t resume officially until this Saturday, January 3. That means Visalia’s other requests for federal money that were in the works won’t be fulfilled.
“Last year, we also had some funds set aside for various projects,” Burns said. “Those funds were not finalized because Congress was unable to finish their work on the appropriations bills. So we lost those funds, which is why we kind of restarted with a new approach this year.”
Visalia will just have to cross its fingers and hope Congress doesn’t come to another funding impasse. And the things Visalia wants to fund are popular, like traffic infrastructure and public safety.
He doesn’t foresee another funding stall in 2026. The three appropriations bills that were passed are a good sign, given that they were the first Congress has managed to pass since 2024.
“I am hopeful that this year Congress can actually finish its work on the appropriations process and can fund the government,” Burns said.
Since we’re already halfway through fiscal year 2026, Burns expects Congress to have a sense of urgency.
“So we’ll see,” he said “I’m hopeful that January shakes some things loose and they can get some of this work done.”
Visalia an Innocent Bystander in Trump-Newsom Battle
Having two congress members from two different parties was concerning at first for the members of the city council. The concern wasn’t that the two representatives would fight to outshine each other in their attempts to support Visalia’s causes. The fear was that Visalia would get no attention at all.
“At first when we got split in half, I thought this isn’t going to work,” said Councilman Brian Poochigian. “Nobody’s going to care about us.”
That, however, was an unfounded worry.
“They’ve been very, very receptive,” he said of Fong and Costa and their staff members, who he described as responsive and very willing to meet with city officials. Instead, Poochigian is more worried about the battle of wills between Trump and Newsom.
“Trump versus California, you (Burns) think obviously he and Newsom are in this fight against each other,” Poochigian said. “I just don’t want to be in the crosshairs or lose funding over this. Do you see that happening in the next couple of years?”
Burns’ answer was quick.
“Absolutely,” he said. “The cynic in me would say that it could get worse before it gets better, particularly if the governor does ultimately become the nominee for president. I feel your pain.”
Poochigian then wanted Burns’ opinion on Trump remaining dedicated to rebuilding America’s infrastructure.
“Do you think that will affect any kind of infrastructure, because I would think Trump would want to build, as he was saying in his campaigns,” he said. “But we really haven’t seen that many infrastructure projects, at least here in California. Do you think that’s going to probably continue?”
This time Burns wasn’t hopeful Visalia would escape more fallout from the political rivalry.
“Obviously, he’s (Trump) cherry-picked a few projects he’s sort of decided to have cancelled, and some of those are under legal review,” Burns said. “I think you guys are unique. Welcome to the party. I don’t know what to say to that. It’s just a tough situation.”
Council Shows Dissatisfaction with Both Political Parties
Poochigian then expressed his disappointment with the recent political boundary wrangling supported by Democrats in California and Republicans in Texas.
“It seems like Texas and California are basically doing illegal activities by redistricting like this,” he said.
Burns agreed this partisan focus seems to be what to expect from DC going forward.
“It’s a new normal,” he said. “Everyday is a new opportunity to push the ball further for your team.”
Councilman Steve Nelsen described the parties as putting their own interests before those of the county.
“You have two parties who put their feet in the sand and then in reality don’t do what’s best for the nation as a whole,” he said of the situation. He then wondered if the Trump administration is genuinely supportive of agriculture and solving the state’s water issues. Burns said that, yes, there is support, but one-upsmanship has eroded it.
“Generally speaking, they (the Trump administration) want to be supportive, but there’s that push-pull with respect to ‘I’m going to show California who’s in charge’ kind of thing that maybe hasn’t been as helpful,” he said.
Nelsen also said ag and water aren’t the only California-specific issues that have been neglected due to political posturing on the part of Trump.
“I think there’s other items he (Trump) put his feet in the sand on with regards to California which is again not to the benefit of the public, which is sad,” Nelsen said.
Councilman Poochigian was specifically concerned with how Trump-initiated changes to the National Parks entrance fee schedule will affect Visalia’s economy. Recently, the entrance fee for a non-citizen visitor has been raised to $100 a day at the 12 most-visited parks, including Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park.
The sky-high entrance fees could keep tourists – and their dollars – away from Tulare County.
“Obviously, it’s a big part of our economy,” Poochigian said. “We’re expecting a boom from the World Cup this summer and then the Olympics, attracting that tourist base.”
Burns advised the council to make its needs and wants known, telling the story with emphasis on the economic hit to Visalia and the surrounding communities. He said this is another issue that lends itself to Visalia’s unique double congressional representation.
“I think this is one of those issues where maybe you might want to weigh in a little and see if they can’t try to push some buttons,” he said.