Colorado House Democrats are considering a bill to stash $4M in taxpayer dollars to fight the Trump administration in court if the president targets Colorado.
A new Colorado bill giving the governor broad power to spend taxpayer dollars against possible Trump administration actions cleared a major hurdle this week.
HB25-1321, also known as the “Support Against Adverse Federal Action,” will earmark $4 million from the state’s infrastructure cash fund as a safeguard against potential federal retaliation over state laws that defy President Donald Trump’s executive orders.
According to the language of the bill, the governor’s office could use the fund to hire outside lawyers or contractors to respond to federal decisions impacting grants, contracts or funding sent to Colorado. It also covers legal costs for any state employees facing federal investigations or lawsuits related to their official duties.
The bill was passed by the House Committee on Appropriations on Tuesday and is scheduled for consideration by the full House. It will then go before the Senate for consideration.
Colorado Democrats may be taking a page out of California’s playbook, as Gov. Gavin Newsom approved $50 million in taxpayer dollars in February to aid in legal court battles and protection for illegal immigrants against the Trump administration.
State Republicans immediately slammed the bill’s passage, saying on social media the Centennial State’s legislature has “continually poked the Admin in the eye this session & are now using our tax dollars meant for roads & water to defend it.”
COLORADO DEMS ARE ‘POKING THE BEAR’ BY DEFYING TRUMP’S ORDERS, GOP LAWMAKER WARNS
“Four million dollars TAKEN from the infrastructure investment and jobs act to give the governor a blank check of $4 million to sue the federal government, that’s what we are arguing against today,” Republican state Rep. Brandi Bradley posted on X. “You cannot make this stuff up…. -Roads are crumbling -Crime is through the roof -education is failing our kids -we are over regulated and over taxed -Coloradans cannot afford basic necessities or healthcare Zero transparency in this bill and an amendment to allow any money to continue to be appropriated, that is not expended.”
Colorado House Democrats communications director Jarrett Freedman said the bill would “Musk-proof” the state from “illegal, unconstitutional federal actions that threaten funding for health care, education, public safety, our environment and critical infrastructure.”
“Trump has frozen FEMA grants, agriculture grants for Colorado farmers, behavioral health funding, emergency response funding, and House Republicans are cheering it all on,” he said.
In February, Trump implemented a freeze on several federal funding programs to ensure that federal financial assistance programs comply with his recent executive orders, including halting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.
But a U.S. district judge issued a nationwide preliminary injunction Tuesday ordering the administration to release billions of dollars allocated by two Biden-era initiatives, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.
Colorado House Democrats recently passed a series of controversial bills that Republicans fear could draw Trump’s attention, since a few of the bills defy his executive orders.
The bills that were passed this session include SB25-183, which requires taxpayers to fund abortion services; HB25-1309, mandating insurers cover transgender procedures regardless of age; HB25-1312, which imposes state-mandated gender policies on schools and considers it “coercive control” in child custody cases when a parent does not affirm a child’s gender identity or “deadnames” them; and SB25-129, which prohibits cooperation with out-of-state investigations on transgender procedures and abortion services.
