All four Republican members of Colorado’s Federal Delegation supported the House bill, which passed by a single vote
DENVER - Today, Senate Republicans shoved the Big, Cruel, Disastrous Bill through the Senate, setting the stage to kick hardworking Coloradans off Medicaid, threaten children's access to healthy food, and kill jobs. Now, Governor Polis is calling on Colorado’s Representatives and House GOP to do the right thing for Americans by defeating the bill and starting over.
“Today, Republicans in the Senate voted to kick Americans off health care, raise costs on insurance, kill jobs, increase our deficit and debt, and make it harder for kids to access food. This shameful vote comes at the expense of hardworking Coloradans. This bill is bad for our communities, bad for our economy, and will increase the deficit and balloon our national debt. It’s time for the House to rise to the occasion and do their part to protect Americans from this bill and start over," said Colorado Governor Jared Polis.
Reports from the Congressional Budget Office show that this legislation, as drafted, will balloon the deficit by nearly $4 trillion over the next decade, putting the country’s financial stability at risk. It will also throw hundreds of thousands of Coloradans off their health care coverage with cuts to Medicaid, as well as other changes to the exchanges and the failure to extend health care premium tax credits. If these cuts are enacted, Colorado could lose jobs, GDP and significant federal funding. Rural and working-class parts of the state would be hit the hardest. The bill would also shift SNAP costs onto the states, and Colorado would be forced to pay an additional $175 million to cover those benefits, money the state does not have in this challenging budget environment.
Governor Polis has consistently sounded the alarm over the harmful impacts of this cruel and disastrous bill. Governor Polis has opposed cruel provisions in this bill, including:
- Cutting Medicaid funding, which would kick Coloradans and families off health care, while raising costs for everyone else Earlier this year, Governor Polis and Lt. Governor Primavera sent a letter to Colorado’s Congressional Delegation urging them not to cut Medicaid funding.
- Threatening SNAP funding and food access for children and families
- Risking jobs in Colorado’s strong clean-energy industry
- Irresponsibly ballooning America’s national debt
Prior to reaching the Senate, Colorado’s Congressional Republicans in the House all voted in support of this bill, including Representatives Boebert, Hurd, Evans, and Crank.