Gov. Jared Polis has announced $252.5 million in cuts to Colorado’s budget, courtesy of an executive order following the much-ballyhooed special session. Marianne Goodland at the Denver Gazette reports the biggest ax fell on the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, with Medicaid provider rates taking a hit, and higher ed also feeling the squeeze. Polis insists these “hard choices” were forced on him by the $800 million shortfall caused by Congress and the Trump-era tax changes. Republicans, meanwhile, see it for what it is: a rigged circus act to dodge accountability for years of overspending.
Lawmakers on the Joint Budget Committee bristled, pointing out that slashing provider rates means cutting off federal matching dollars, which hurts patients, clinics, and families. Students and universities also got clipped, while virtue-signal programs and bloated bureaucracy escaped untouched.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Polis slashed $252.5 million, targeting Medicaid providers and higher ed, while avoiding cuts to sacred progressive cows.
- Democrats claim the special session was necessary because of “Trump’s tax bill.” Apparently, he’s still running the state from Mar-a-Lago.
- Republicans call it “political theatre.” That’s generous. Even bad high school plays sell more tickets.
- Cutting provider rates means fewer services and losing matching federal dollars. It’s a self-inflicted wound dressed up as “responsibility.”
- Polis framed it as “least harm, least damage.” Translation: students and healthcare providers can bleed, but ideological programs stay fat and happy.
My Bottom Line
The special session was an absolute farce paid for, as always, by Colorado taxpayers. It wasn’t about fixing a budget gap, it was a sham publicity stunt so the governor and his Democratic buddies could point at Trump instead of their own reckless spending. The chaos isn’t accidental, it’s the point. Never let a good crisis go to waste, right?
And the cuts? Polis went straight for higher ed and provider rates. Students get squeezed, hospitals and clinics lose funding, and daycare providers take it on the chin. But heaven forbid we touch a dime of the bloated virtue-signaling pet projects Democrats love to parade around. This isn’t necessity, it’s choice. Bad choice.
Colorado has plenty of money. What it doesn’t have is leadership willing to admit the deficit wasn’t dropped from the sky, it was dug by years of bad priorities. The Scott Sheet predicted the political theatre, and once again, we were right. Normies, wake up. This isn’t fiscal stewardship, it’s gaslighting with a balance sheet.
