DENVER, CO — Economic justice is Reproductive Justice. COLOR Action Fund warns that ballot initiatives 50 and 108 would harm communities across Colorado by drastically cutting state and local funding for healthcare, education, and other essential services.
The proposed initiatives would cut state and local budgets by as much as $2 billion. Initiative 50 would place an extremely limiting 4% statewide cap on revenue growth from property taxes. This will pit local communities against each other fighting for critical resources. Initiative 108 would drop property assessment rates and then require the state to use its General Fund to replace lost funding for local districts. The impact on the state will be up to $1.7 billion in 2025, which would have devastating cuts at the state and local levels.
“The severe budget cuts proposed by initiatives 50 and 108 would essentially eliminate many public programs, and even entire departments that are critical for the health and wellbeing of Coloradans,” said Dusti Gurule, President and CEO of COLOR Action Fund. “The communities that would be harmed the most — young people, people of color, immigrants, and rural Coloradans — are those who already have limited resources and access to these services.”
Many health programs that are vital for our communities are reliant on the state’s General Fund, including the Reproductive Health Care Program, which receives 51% of its total budget from the General Fund and provides family planning services to low-income Coloradans. Similarly, child youth and health services rely on the General Fund for 64% of their total budget in order to support health care for children with special needs, child fatality prevention, school-based health centers, and comprehensive sexual education.
The state’s Medicaid program, which provides health insurance to almost one-third of all Colorado residents, would also be at risk. The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF), which runs the state’s Medicaid program, receives 29% of its total budget from the General Fund. Budget cuts as outlined by Initiatives 50 and 108 would likely force a reduction in Medicaid reimbursement rates, causing the state to lose federal match funding and resulting in providers and hospitals having to stop caring for patients who have Medicaid. This means 3 of every 10 Coloradans would be at risk of losing care, with a disproportionate impact on rural communities that have fewer care options.
The state and local funding cuts proposed by these initiatives are so drastic that no public program or department would be safe. In addition to dismantling the healthcare system, Initiatives 50 and 108 would impact K-12 public schools, causing increased class sizes and poor salaries for teachers, and harm higher education in the state with up to 47% tuition increases for community college students.
“The list of risks and harm to our community really goes on and on,” said Vanessa Martinez, Policy Director of COLOR. “These initiatives would eliminate the services we know are essential for a healthy community: libraries, fire departments, health centers, schools, parks, roads, water, mental health services, and more. We know that we cannot have a healthy and thriving state unless every community member is able to be healthy. Initiatives 50 and 108 would make it practically impossible for our state to support the health and wellbeing of Coloradans.”
###
Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights Action Fund (COLOR AF) works to address the imbalance of Latine representation in the state legislature by creating the infrastructure to identify and support community leaders, increase Latine representation in elected office, build political influence, and to reframe the narrative around our issues.