At the beginning of July, Republicans passed a devastating budget bill that gives the wealthiest people and corporations in our country a $4.5 trillion tax break.
To sell the tax cuts to fiscal hawks, Republicans slashed more than $1 trillion from Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and food stamps. (PSA they still managed to explode the national debt by trillions.)
Republicans cut the programs that help Americans meet their most basic human needs, all so they could pass the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in the history of our country.
The bill is a disaster for Colorado.
But let’s break down exactly how the bill will impact our state this year, and in the future.
Trump’s budget bill blows a massive hole in Colorado’s state budget.
Specifically, it will reduce Colorado’s revenue by over $1.2 billion this year alone. A significant portion of that revenue loss comes from increased tax deductions for corporations in Trump’s bill. With the combined loss of federal funding from Medicaid and SNAP, Colorado stands to lose more than $3 billion.
On Wednesday, Governor Polis announced an emergency legislative session at the end of August to deal with the massive funding cuts passed in the Trump administration’s bill.
Colorado lawmakers will have to decide where to cut funding and government services, and how to make up some of the lost revenue.
And they will do it while trying to protect essential services – including health care and nutrition support – for as many Coloradans as possible.
What do the budget cuts mean for Coloradans?
Despite states’ best attempts to minimize the damage, an estimated 15 million Americans are slated to lose their health care.
Hundreds of rural hospitals are at risk of closure.
Last week, we took to the Senate floor to highlight just how devastating these cuts will be for Colorado.
And importantly, the bill isn’t just $1 trillion in funding cuts for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act – it creates new barriers to access. That means more paperwork and more hoops for families to jump through.
Under Trump’s Big Ugly Bill, government “efficiency” just means rolling out the red tape.
And who will pay the price?
Rural Coloradans living in Cortez, Lamar, or Rifle when their closest health center closes.
Pregnant women who have to drive 50 miles to give birth after their closest hospital cut costs by closing their birthing center.
Kids who lose their health care because their parents had to navigate so much red tape to prove they do in fact meet the requirements.
Adults who can’t provide sufficient “proof” that their full-time job is taking care of a disabled parent.
If you are a single adult in Colorado, you don’t even qualify for Medicaid if you earn more than $1,735 a month. That means making less than $10.01 an hour – which is less than minimum wage!
Bottom line: Republicans are cutting costs by punishing the poorest in our country when they can’t keep up. They are making the people who suffer the most suffer more.
Now we’re left to clean up the mess.
Governor Polis is doing the right thing by bringing the state together to address these challenges head on. The entire legislature will work as hard as possible to protect Colorado.
Here’s what we can do: put as much pressure on Republicans as possible. Call your legislators, especially if they voted for Trump’s “Big Beautiful Betrayal.”
Remember: most of the Medicaid cuts won’t take place until 2027! Public pressure is the best way to push back against this horrific law.
We won’t stop trying to reverse the damage this bill does to our state.
The American people will have the final word.