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State Issues
Colorado Wasteful Spending (FY 2024-25)
Department of Corrections: $ 7,995,411 Increase 28.3 FTE
● Transgender Unit and Healthcare
- $2,677,911 to create two transgender living units totaling 148 beds.
- $5,317,500 for “gender-confirming surgical care.
●Clinical Staff Incentives
- $6,312,464 General Fund to provide incentive payments for certain DOC clinical staff up to $25,000.
- The bill includes an increase of $6,312,464 General Fund to provide incentive payments for certain DOC clinical staff up to $25,000.
●HB 24-1389 School Funding 2023-24 for New Arrival Students (immigrants): $24,000,000
- The bill provides $24,000,000 to be distributed to school districts and charter schools for new arrival students. It increases state expenditures and school district funding in the current FY 2023-24 only.
● Office of New Americans Expansion (immigrants): $119,029 General Fund and 1.5 FTE
- $119,029 General Fund and 1.5 FTE for an administrator to manage ONA grants, coordinate with other entities, and identify opportunities for new migrant career pathway enhancement and a full-time program assistant to support the ONA Director.
-This office has had difficulty expending grants.
●SB 24-182 Immigrant Identification Document Issuance: $ 122,855
- The bill changes certain requirements for the issuance of driver licenses or state identification cards to individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States. The bill increases state expenditures for FY 2024-25 and FY 2025-26 only.
●HB 24-1280 Welcome, Reception, Integration, Grant Program:
$ 2,436,862
- The bill creates the Statewide Welcome, Reception, and Integration Grant Program to provide assistance to migrants. It transfers funds in FY 2024-25 only.
●Immigrant Legal Defense Fund: $ 350,000
- Long Bill budget amendment
- A doubling of the fund for FY 2024-25 making a total budget of $700,000. This funding is used for public defense for people facing immigration legal issues. Sponsored by Rep. Mabrey and Sen. Gonzalez.
●Office of Health Equity and Environmental Justice: $ 2,840,715
- Funding for the Office
- Mission: Build partnerships to mobilize community power and transform systems to advance health equity and environmental justice.
- What this office does to advance their mission:
1. Build relationships with communities and across sectors to address root causes of health disparities.
2. Use equity in decision-making and partner with all sectors of government to embed health and equity considerations into their decision-making process.
3. Use data to support the narrative of the social determinants of health and tell the story of what creates health.
4. De-center communications from the English language or any one dominant language, and prioritize language justice when engaging with communities.
5. Develop, implement, and provide guidance on health equity training, practice, and policies within CDPHE and across the state of Colorado.
6. Focus on upstream determinants of health, guided by the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative.
●HB 24-1197 Department of Public Safety Supplemental: $ 9,800,000
- Funding for Community-based organizations providing service for migrants.
- Funds to provide grants to community-based organizations providing services to people migrating to Colorado.
●Department of Education: $ 56,100,000
- Expanding Healthy Meals for All Program.
- Adds $56.1 million total funds for the Healthy School Meals for All Program, including $40.6 million from the Healthy School Meals for All Program General Fund Exempt Account and $15.5 million from the General Fund. This includes an increase of $56.0 million for meal reimbursements and $100,000 for consulting resources.
●HB 21-1318 Department of Public Health & Environment: $ 198,192
- Outdoor Equity Program
- This bill injected identity politics into access to the outdoors.
●Department of Public Health & Environment: $2,840,715 total funds and 8.3 FTE
- Creating the Office of Health Equity and Environmental Justice by combining two offices.
- The bill includes an increase of $2,840,715 total funds and 8.3 FTE, including a reduction of $11,349 General Fund, to join the Environmental Justice Program with the Office of Health Equity to form the Office of Health Equity and Environmental Justice (OHEEJ) for the purpose of centralizing environmental justice staff. OHEEJ is responsible for ongoing environmental justice work, including administration of environmental health mitigation grants through the Community Impact Cash Fund.
●Department of Revenue: $714,515 total funds and 8.3 FTE
- GENTAX & DRIVES SUPPORT FUNDING: The bill includes an increase of $714,515 total funds and 8.3 FTE, comprised of $442,906 General Fund and $271,609 cash funds from the Colorado DRIVES Vehicle Services. Account, in FY 2024-25. Funds will address the backlog of upgrades and system enhancements to the DRIVES and GenTax systems stemming from legislative, user experience, and system operational demands.
Colorado's Sanctuary State Gamble Comes Due
Governor Jared Polis declared Colorado a sanctuary state in 2019 and dared the consequences. Those consequences now carry a steep price tag: $104 million and climbing. Colorado taxpayers are watching their state budget collapse in real time, and the man who lit the fuse remains in the governor's mansion.
Democrats Promised It Would Cost $14 Million
In 2022, Colorado Democrats passed Cover All Coloradans on strict party-line votes. The program extended Medicaid-style health coverage to illegal immigrants who would otherwise qualify but for their immigration status. State analysts projected a cost of $14.7 million.
They were wrong by 611 percent.
The program launched January 1, 2025. In its first six months, costs exceeded projections by $18 million, a 260 percent overrun right out of the gate. The state now expects the program to cost $104.5 million this fiscal year and $127.4 million the next.
"The fiscal note missed pretty badly," Eric Kurtz, chief legislative budget analyst, told the Joint Budget Committee.
The $1 Billion Hole Democrats Dug
Cover All Coloradans did not blow up the budget in isolation. It helped create a $1 billion shortfall for Colorado taxpayers. Democrats projected roughly 3,700 enrollees this year. Nearly 28,000 signed up instead. The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing admitted higher-than-anticipated and growing enrollment is the primary driver.
Without benefit cuts, more than 30,000 people will enroll next year at a cost exceeding $151 million. This is the sanctuary state model working exactly as critics warned.
Colorado Already Has a Track Record
This is not the first time Colorado Democrats botched an immigration cost estimate. In 2013, they passed a law letting illegal immigrants obtain driver's licenses. Analysts predicted modest demand. Applications flooded the system and forced an emergency legislative fix.
That warning shot went ignored.
State Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer wants the program eliminated. "Just from a fiscal point of view," she said, "we're better off utilizing our funds in such a way where we pull down that federal dollar." Cover All Coloradans receives no federal match for the children it covers, so Colorado taxpayers pay the full bill.
Polis Built the Trap and Left Coloradans Inside It
Jared Polis built this trap layer by layer. In 2019 he signed the sanctuary state law prohibiting cooperation with ICE. In 2021 he barred state employees from sharing immigration status with federal agents. In 2023 he restricted ICE access to public facilities.
Every step sent a message nationwide: Colorado is safe and will take care of you. Then Democrats passed Cover All Coloradans to make that promise real.
While New York and Massachusetts burned billions on migrant care, Colorado Democrats built their own version anyway. Polis is term-limited and leaving office. The billion-dollar shortfall, exploding enrollment, and climbing tab stay behind.
Your tax dollars will pay for Jared Polis's sanctuary state long after he is gone. Colorado deserves better stewardship of public funds.
