Figures’ mantra for his first year in office involves one question

WASHINGTON — After casting the last votes of his first year in office, freshman Congressman Shomari Figures said he’s proud to have shone a “spotlight” on the communities in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District that have not always been top of mind in the halls of the U.S. Capitol.

As Alabama’s sole first-time member of Congress this year, representing the newly redrawn 2nd District, spanning from Mobile to Montgomery, Figures said he and his team start off discussing each issue that comes to their office with one simple question.

“How does this impact people in the district?” Figures, D-Mobile, said in a brief interview with Alabama Daily News as he walked back to his Washington office at the end of the 2025 session.

Answering that question can sometimes lead him to work with lawmakers across the aisle and against a majority of the Democratic Party, especially in a year when Republicans control all three branches of government.

One of the most recent examples is his sponsorship of the now-stalled Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act, which would place guidelines around name, image, and likeness for college athletes.

The Alabama Democrat’s strong support of the legislation that would also prohibit student-athletes from becoming employees of universities placed him at odds with a majority of his Democratic colleagues and fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus, which criticized the bill for not adequately protecting student-athletes and for giving too much power to the athletic conferences.

“Some of the members just need to take the time to actually read the bill themselves and not rely on talking points,” Figures told ADN in early December when House leadership cancelled a vote on the bill. “I think in diving into the bill, they will see that a lot of the concerns are addressed.”

For students and universities in Alabama and across the country, Figures said the greater risk would be doing “nothing” to regulate NIL.

He also joined with Republicans on the first piece of legislation he introduced, the Rural Hospitalization Stabilization Act, which would provide grants to rural hospitals.

“Building bipartisan relationships has also been something that I’ve been proud of in terms of working with people on the committees that I serve on, as well as off the committee to try to navigate things,” Figures told ADN.

Figures is a member of the House Agriculture Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

As far as what he’s most proud of accomplishing during his inaugural year, Figures quickly replied that it was securing federal dollars for multiple projects in communities throughout his district through earmarks.

“We got a million dollars for the hospital down in Jackson, a million dollars for a project in Crenshaw County, a million dollars for a project in Macon County and Tuskegee, and that’s something that we take a lot of pride in doing that,” he said.

Figures is no stranger to Congress and Washington, previously having served as counsel in a U.S. Senate office and in the Obama and Biden administrations. But now being a member himself, he said he was still surprised to see how other lawmakers were motivated by outside factors and not their district’s needs.

“It’s certainly disappointing to be in an environment where people, at least in my view, are not prioritizing the people who sent them here in terms of the things that we’re working on,” Figures told ADN.

Affordability is one of those issues that he wishes Congress focused on more this year, calling the lack of action the “biggest disappointment” of his first year representing Alabama.

Republicans contend that they have helped address affordability concerns with the tax savings in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The freshman congressman has also been frustrated by the absence of passed legislation that would help Americans with the high cost of health care and insurance premiums next year.  Figures has been a champion of extending the Affordable Care Act enhanced subsidies.

“We shouldn’t be playing buzzer beaters with people’s health care and their ability to afford it,” Figures said.

But after four moderate Republicans defied Speaker Mike Johsnon, R-LA, late this month to sign onto the Democratic discharge petition to force a vote on extending the tax credits for three years, Figures became slightly more hopeful for finding a solution, most likely with lawmakers from both parties.

As the Alabama Democrat looks to the new year, he will start it like he ended 2025, asking himself how the latest issues that arise impact the district.