Colorado’s Congressional delegation talks bipartisanship, tariffs and health care at chamber luncheon
Colorado’s Congressional delegation talks bipartisanship, tariffs and health care at chamber luncheon
It’s the first time all eight members of Colorado’s delegation to the U.S. House have ever appeared in public in Colorado.
The event: the Colorado Chamber of Commerce’s seventh biennial congressional delegation luncheon, in front of a packed audience of several hundred at the Denver Art Museum.
Moderator Shaun Boyd of CBS4 led off with a question on bipartisanship and how well the members work with each other.
Sixth Congressional District Rep. Jason Crow, D-Aurora, pointed to efforts with his Fourth Congressional District counterpart, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Windsor, on a Space Force National Guard reserve
There was, at times, more agreement among the members than one might expect.
Sixth Congressional District Rep. Jason Crow, D-Aurora, pointed to efforts with his Fourth Congressional District counterpart, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Windsor, on a Space Force National Guard reserve bill. Crow and Rep. Jeff Crank, the Republican who represents the 5th Congressional District, are carrying a bill on traumatic brain injuries.
Crow also worked with Rep. Gabe Evans, a Republican from the 8th Congressional District, on space issues. Evans noted his district has the largest space national guard unit in the country.
Evans added that one of his first meetings in Congress was with the entire delegation to figure out how to protect Colorado’s Space Command.
Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Lakewood, who represents the 7th Congressional District, said it’s challenging to build relationships across the aisle in Congress, unlike her days at the state Capitol. She joked that she lost months of her life listening to the loquacious Sen. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs.
It takes effort to build those relationships in Congress, she explained. Congress is set up to be more partisan than it should be, Pettersen said.
But members of the delegation do connect on the House floor, and she pointed to a bill she’s carrying with Boebert on new zip codes. “We keep each other posted,” Pettersen said.
Boebert noted the delegation meetings, which, when conducted over Zoom, would allow Gov. Jared Polis to join in.
Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Lafayette, of the 2nd Congressional District, noted a bill he’s working on with Rep. Jeff Hurd, R-Grand Junction, of the 3rd Congressional District, on snow modeling forecasts.
Hurd added that while there are disagreements, there is also collaboration, pointing to a behind-the-scenes effort by the delegation to get a public lands sale out of the Trump administration’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Hurd also noted legislation he’s working on with Crow, such as the Ski Hill Resources for Economic Development Act and a measure on economic development.
Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette, of the 1st Congressional District, is the senior member of the delegation.
“We all care about working together for the issues that impact our state,” such as wildfire and infrastructure, DeGette said. “We don’t agree on a lot of political items, but we do agree on Colorado and helping Colorado.”
“It never makes the news when you work together, but when there’s conflict, that’s what sells,” Crank added. “But we work together a lot.”
He noted collaborations with Neguse to get C-130s for fighting fires on the Western Slope.
Affordable housing is also an issue that unites the delegation.
Neguse noted an omnibus, bipartisan bill from the Senate on housing affordability, calling it a harbinger of things to come.
A bipartisan bill with 100 cosponsors on affordable housing tax credits is in the works, Evans noted. He’s also part of a “problem-solvers” caucus that includes Pettersen, which is working on permitting and regulatory reform in housing.
It was the subject of tariffs, however, where the fissures showed up.
Crank initially said he didn’t favor long-term tariffs as a backer of free trade. Still, he did support President Trump’s efforts because tariffs are necessary for encouraging manufacturing and closing the trade deficit.
“This president has very effectively used tariffs to get to the negotiating table,” Crank said. He noted the trade deal with the European Union, which he said will bring hundreds of millions of dollars in investments. But if “you’re using tariffs,” he added, “you can’t say you’re only doing it to get a better deal.”
That prompted DeGette to thank him, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, for explaining the President’s thought process. “Most of us have no idea what he’s doing with imposing tariffs,” then taking them back and renegotiating. It’s causing great consternation and instability, she said.
DeGette noted she co-chairs a Japan study group. When they met with the Japanese prime minister and his senior advisors, they were furious at the U.S. because the tariffs didn’t consider business investment, including a big steel deal.
Boebert and Pettersen took on the issue of childcare. Boebert defended the federal budget, noting it’s “very pro-child and pro-parent” as it extended a child tax credit from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
But “the American dream isn’t just about affording childcare,” Boebert said. “It’s about allowing moms to stay home and raise children…and not being forced into the work field.”
Pettersen has first-hand experience with the childcare issue, noting she put her baby on a wait list for childcare while she was still pregnant, and that lasted a year.
She’s not alone. Pettersen noted that 10,000 people in Colorado are unable to work because of a lack of childcare.
A question about the upcoming General Assembly special session prompted Crow to point out the impact of the federal budget on Colorado. He said 300,000 people will lose their healthcare, and tens of thousands of Colorado children will go hungry. Seven hospitals, mostly rural, are at risk of closing from the measure, with three that could close in the following year.
Crank took the opposite view, pointing to out-of-control spending by Democrats at the state Capitol for years. The state has a choice about taxing overtime or seniors. “That’s probably what they’re planning to do,” he said.
Without the federal budget, 73,000 small businesses in his district would have seen a 43% tax increase, and working families would be hit with a 21% tax increase due to the expiration of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
“We’ve heard the sky is falling from my colleagues” over healthcare, he added, but the only people who will be thrown off are those who refuse to work 20 hours a week.
Crank said that Colorado should look at cutting spending instead of burdening everyone with more taxes.
DeGette countered Crank’s comments on healthcare. “They’re not all sitting around watching TV in their parents’ basements,” she said, noting 93% of those who get those tax credits are either working or exempt.
This will be a terrible hit on all Coloradans because it will drive up the cost of health care, she claimed.
Hurd disagreed with the assertion that rural hospitals will close because of the federal budget, adding that anyone can satisfy the requirements for Medicaid by volunteering or going to work, which don’t take effect until April 2027.
“There’s time for us to get it right,” he said, such as through a temporary extension.
On the issue of Colorado’s competitiveness, Crow said the state has reached a tipping point and no longer holds a competitive advantage against other states, because of the high cost of living and a chronically underfunded public education system.
A question on energy prompted Boebert to claim that the energy industry has been under attack for the last four years. “We have a mandate of ‘drill, baby, drill,’” she said.
Neguse said the federal budget will hurt domestic energy production, particularly in renewables. He noted that Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has put a hold on Trump nominees because of the administration’s effort to eliminate solar and wind tax credits.
“I don’t think we’re achieving any sort of balance at the federal level, and regulatory uncertainty has been injected into the business environment,” he added.
There’s always been an “all of the above” approach to energy, added DeGette, but the federal budget eliminates that in favor of just one industry, oil.
Boebert countered that they are creating more of a balance, and the government won’t be choosing winners and losers.
“Yes, it is,” shot back DeGette.
“This is what our committee proceedings look like,” added Neguse, to laughter from the audience.
The final question, on regulatory reform, drew competing views on whether to use a scalpel or axe, with DeGette favoring the scalpel and Boebert the axe.
Source: Google News
