By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics
Colorado’s House Republican leadership is criticizing Democratic Gov. Jared Polis for not heeding their advice against enacting legislation that could lead to the state losing federal funding.
Earlier this week, Polis announced that the state created a dashboard to track funds that are either being cut or are at risk from the Trump administration, as well as the state’s efforts to protect those funds through legal action. As of June 19, about $76 million in federal funding has been cut, and another $56 million are at risk. Over $282 million has been reinstated across state agencies.
The dashboard currently shows federal funding tied to nine of the state’s 20 agencies. It does not yet include the largest source of federal funds: the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which receives more than half of the federal funds sent to Colorado, primarily for Medicaid.
Polis said Tuesday the Trump administration is trying to “rip away local and state funding that supports cybersecurity and public safety, helps Coloradans access or charge low-cost electric vehicles, helps people access food and more.”
“This is federal funding that has already been allocated to states by Congress, and now the administration is working to take it away. We are doing everything in our power to protect this funding for Coloradans and local governments, including pursuing legal action when necessary. This dashboard will help increase transparency and accountability,” he said.
House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese of Colorado Springs and Assistant Minority Leader Ty Winter of Trinidad say they saw all of this coming and tried to warn Polis about it, but he didn’t listen.
“House Republican leadership identified numerous bills that risked violating federal law and jeopardizing critical funding,” Pugliese and Winter said in a joint press release. “Despite these warnings, the Governor moved forward with signing the legislation, knowing the risks to Colorado’s fiscal health.”
Among those bills is Senate Bill 276, which limits federal immigration authorities’ access to certain buildings like schools and churches and prohibits law enforcement from disclosing information about inmates’ immigration status to federal authorities. The bill was signed into law last month.
Supporters of the measure say it helps ensure that the civil rights of all Coloradans are protected, regardless of immigration status. Republican lawmakers warned it would lead to funding cuts from the federal government, as President Trump has issued an executive order threatening to withhold funding from “sanctuary cities”. While the governor has maintained that Colorado is not a “sanctuary state,” the Department of Homeland Security has designated several cities in the state, including Denver, Aurora, Boulder, and Durango as “sanctuary cities”