DENVER – Governor Polis has once again proved that when faced with tough choices, he’ll sacrifice Colorado’s most vulnerable before reigning in his own politically-charged, wasteful spending.
Today, with the stroke of a pen, Governor Polis issued an executive order that slashed over $100 million in funding to critical programs that are lifelines for millions, such as Medicaid and higher education, all the while protecting funding for the hundreds of bloated offices and political pet projects he’s built during his time in office. This executive order comes on the heels of a special session called by the Governor for the purpose of increasing taxes on Coloradans to foot the bill for the excessive spending spree he and the Colorado Democrats have been on since 2019.
For years, the Colorado Senate Republicans have proposed solutions that would have cut unnecessary and unsustainable funding to several of the 200+ new offices and programs created under the Polis administration, while preserving critical funding for programs that actually matter, such as for health care and higher education. Unsurprisingly, these Republican solutions have been repeatedly struck down by the Democrat-majority.
“When we called on the Governor to cut spending, we meant cutting his useless pet projects, not slashing Medicaid and higher education,” Ranking JBC Member Senator Kirkmeyer said. “Time and again, this Governor has shown he has a crisis of priorities. Instead of protecting programs that millions of Coloradans depend on, he’s shielding the bloated offices he created that have done nothing to make our state more affordable.”
Senate Republicans were prepared to propose solutions that would have made responsible and necessary cuts to government spending. Governor Polis ambushed those ambitions by only including raising taxes in his call for a special session.
“While we are glad the Governor has finally realized that spending cuts are necessary, he went about it in the worst way possible,” Senate Minority Leader Cleave Simpson said. “By refusing to include spending cuts in the special session, he shut Republicans out of the process and denied Coloradans real solutions. Had he worked with us, we could have made meaningful cuts to wasteful programs and protected essential services like Medicaid and higher education. Instead, he’s balancing the budget on the backs of students and families who can least afford it.”
During the special session, the Colorado Democrats passed 5 bills that will raise taxes on Coloradans while only filling approximately one third of the $700 million budget deficit they created thanks to their overspending. Senate Republicans, by contrast, offered numerous bills that would have raised nearly $800 million in revenue over the next three years, all without raising taxes.
The Colorado Senate Republicans will continue to fight wasteful spending and stand up for the programs that matter, because Colorado families deserve a government that makes our state more affordable, not one that makes their lives harder.
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