Colorado officials blast Republican Senate tax bill as final passage — and Medicaid cuts — loom

Colorado s Democratic leaders blasted congressional Republicans tax bill as a complete betrayal Tuesday after the bill passed the U S Senate a big step closer to fulfilling a major piece of President Donald Trump s agenda The provision is now on the precipice of full passage later this week though one Colorado Republican congressman has already signaled he may not help it While the massive bill would cut taxes primarily for the wealthy state leaders have also warned that it will slash Medicaid and food assistance prompting tens of thousands of Coloradans to lose wellbeing insurance while further straining the state s finances as well as its already struggling rural medical system This bill is a massive wealth transfer from the working class to the rich U S Rep Jason Crow a Democrat from Aurora mentioned on social media It would kick millions off their strength care take away food assistance for millions and add trillions to the national debt After a daylong vote-a-rama Senate Republicans passed Trump s One Big Beautiful Bill Tuesday morning with Vice President JD Vance arriving to break a - tie in the chamber and send the bill back to the House The proposal includes trillion in tax cuts in part by making reductions permanent boosting the child tax credit and adding deductions for older Americans It would balloon federal deficits by nearly trillion over the next decade nonpartisan analysts estimate while funding Trump s mass-deportation undertaking slashing Medicaid by nearly trillion and rolling back clean potential policies and funding Gov Jared Polis office indicated Tuesday that the bill would have substantial financial costs for Colorado Changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Plan or SNAP would require the state to take on as much as million in new costs New Medicaid work requirements would cost million to implement his office commented while Medicaid would lose more and more each year reaching as much as million by Projections from congressional Democrats indicated that six rural hospitals could close in Colorado as a outcome of the Medicaid cuts and that nearly a quarter-million residents could lose soundness insurance In separate statements Tuesday U S Sen John Hickenlooper of Colorado called the bill pure lunacy while Sen Michael Bennet castigated it as a massive step in the wrong direction Colorado s Democratic House Speaker Julie McCluskie reported the bill was a complete betrayal of the American dream that would cruelly strip healthcare care from over Coloradans and increase costs for working families An analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Agenda estimated Colorado taxpayers would get total tax cuts of more than billion next year with more than of those savings going to people who make or more per year The bill now heads to the House where it originated and where Republican leaders have indicated they want to vote on the bill s passage as soon as Wednesday The margins in the House are expected to be razor-thin When the bill initially cleared that chamber it did so by a - vote with only Republicans in advocacy Essential changes needed Hurd says And on Tuesday one of the Colorado Republicans who previously supported the proposal signaled opposition this time around The Big Beautiful Bill sent back to the House from the Senate is going to require vital changes in order to pass U S Rep Jeff Hurd who represents much of the Western Slope mentioned in a comment to The Denver Post I look forward to working with leadership and my colleagues to pass a bill consistent with the promises we made on the campaign trail Sought what changes the congressman needed Nick Bayer Hurd s chief of staff explained Hurd was reviewing the proposed changes now Hurd previously signed a letter calling for the Senate to abide by the House s Medicaid cuts which were smaller but still totaled over billion In a declaration Tuesday U S Rep Lauren Boebert s spokesman Drew Sexton declared the congresswoman was still reviewing the bill to ensure it complies with President Trump s and the th District s priorities of tax relief dividing line safeguard reforms to the Medicaid and food assistance programs and getting rid of the Green New Scam Messages sent to Colorado s other Republican representatives Jeff Crank and Gabe Evans were not without delay returned Tuesday In an op-ed Evans described the bill as a vision that provides real tangible benefits which make life safer and less expensive while also being better stewards of taxpayer dollars The exterior of Delta County Memorial Hospital in Delta Colo is seen via Google Maps in this screenshot The hospital is one of six in Colorado listed in a review as at highest menace from Medicaid cuts Screenshot via Google Maps The cost of providing the bill s tax cuts state personnel have warned is extensive cuts to Medicaid and food assistance which provide medical care and nutrition benefits to hundreds of thousands of people across the state Earlier estimates from the state s budget office projected the then-current version of the bill could cost Colorado between million and billion per year Currently Republicans in the Senate voted to kick Americans off robustness 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 Polis mentioned in a comment Tuesday He like McCluskie called on the state s Republican members of Congress to oppose the proposal Gauging impact of Medicaid cuts KFF a nonpartisan wellness care think tank formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation estimated last month that Colorado would lose roughly billion in federal Medicaid spending over the next decade under the bill The bill s changes would strip residents of their wellbeing coverage by the organization stated Of the reductions billion would hit rural Colorado leading to residents losing Medicaid coverage in those areas according to KFF Related Articles Trump bill s Medicaid provision that s now in limbo could cost Colorado billion Beware federal agents hiding behind masks Letters Citizens land back on and back off the chopping block requirements our continued help Opinion Colorado among states to amount win in funds for electric conveyance charging Colorado other states challenge billions of dollars in Trump administration funding cuts Those estimates were based on the House version of the bill which proposed less-severe Medicaid cuts than those adopted by the Senate on Tuesday Under the Senate version million Americans would lose vitality care according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office The state Department of Vitality Care Program and Financing which oversees the Medicaid activity here did not yet have fully updated estimates on the impact of the Senate version on the state a spokesman explained Tuesday morning There s nothing beautiful about this bill Lydia McCoy CEO of the Colorado Center on Law and Program an anti-poverty advocacy group announced in a announcement Medicaid recipients will lose access to the wellbeing care that keeps them alive and hospitals across rural Colorado will close their doors for lack of funding The cruelty of this provision is exceeded only by its short-sightedness Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter The Spot