After a year in which none of his requested community projects received federal funding, U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal this week announced a slate of infrastructure and public service investments across Santa Barbara County — many arriving roughly a budget cycle later than anticipated.
Congress typically funds federal programs through annual appropriations bills. When negotiations stall, however, lawmakers often turn to continuing resolutions — stopgap budgets that keep agencies operating while delaying decisions on new spending priorities. Last year’s reliance on a full-year resolution effectively froze Community Project Funding requests, pushing many 2025 local infrastructure proposals into the current budget cycle.
“Because none of the 15 requests we submitted in FY25 received funding, our office approached the applicants and asked if they would like us to consider resubmitting the projects for FY26,” said Eduardo Carrizosa, Carbajal’s communications director.