11-10-25 Interview - State Senator Barb Kirkmeyer

Like We've also had national inflation that's been a mess. But now to see them earnestly running on making Colorado more affordable, it makes me laugh.

He has said nothing for the last six and a half seven years when all of this has been happening. Because seven years ago, before this one party control that we have, we weren't the fifth most unaffordable state in the nation. We weren't the second most unsafe state in the nation. We weren't the sixth most regulated. I mean, what did they think was going to happen when they passed all those regulations and pass those onto businesses that just get passed on to consumers. Did they think things

weren't going to cost more? I mean, it's crazy, but it's their fault. It is just their fault.

So how do you, Barb Kirkmeyer, point out to the voters who may not necessarily be the most informed voters about why we're sort of where we are today? How do you push back on that narrative without just going are you kidding me? Because that's what I would say, and that's why I'm not a politician.

we were talking about women issues and government. And I set there for an hour and a half and listened to the Democrat candidates and or their surrogates, and I was the only Republican candidate actually there, which I think we've got to go out and keep make sure that we're in front of every group. When I rent the governor, I'm readying to be a governor for everybody in the state,

not just a certain flex few. But you know, I listened to him for an hour and a half talk about the cost of groceries and how expensive it was and how unsafe our communities are. And literally I ended up being the last person to speak. I got the last shot at closing statements, and I just said, they're right, it is And I said, and it's their fault. It's one party control. They have done this year over a year, and they've made our state unaffordable, unsafe, and quite frankly,

we are just unraveling. And the thing is, you know, and this is what I tell folks, even as I talk about the healthcare situation in our state. The governor just cut Medicaid, cut medicaids, and he cut Medicaid provider rates. And my Democrat colleagues on the Joint Budgets Committee set there and said nothing. It's infuriating. I mean, finally, today we're getting a post out from the Colorado Sun that says, you know, this is how bad it's going to hurt

all these people on Medicaid. It is not just the people on Medicaid that will be hurt by this. With twenty five counties with maternal health care desert, that means whether you're on Medicaid or not, you're not getting maternal healthcare in those areas of our state. That's what this one party control has done in the state of Colorado,

and they're making it worse. The governor came out, so I mean, I do everything I can to get the message out, you know, and we have books like yourselves and other people in the media that are getting it out. But even like you know today, when I saw that headline come out, it was the other day, and you know, I've just had the opportunity to say, start reading things again. I'm like, I sent, you know, sent out a tweet that said, look, the headline should have read this is

Polis Medicaid cuts. You know, the polist Medicaid cuts will hurt families across Colorado. And the Dems on the joint Budeviney that they've said nothing. They refused to hold him accountable. But the people in this state, we all need to start holding him accountable because he's affecting everyone's access to healthcare, not just those who are the most poor among us, you know, the most vulnerable among us. He's doing it to everybody. It's hurting everybody, and they are feeling it.

And I think that's what's showing up in the polls. And I know, you know, the election, and I'm sorry, I'm kind of going on here a little long, but I know that last election, you know, Tuesday, last week, everybodything all it was a slacking and to some extent it was. But I think for those of us that are involved in this, you know, we know that which school board members are Republicans and which ones are Democrats or you know, unaffiliated or you know where they stand.

But on the healthy mials thing, we have voted on that twice and so the third time, I mean, there wasn't that much on the ballot and I just don't think people were that you know, interested in it. And but for the third time, it's like, well, we voted on that twice, and you know, the two times before,

if they passed it. And so when the message is, gus, do you think we should tack somebody else other than yourself so that in school, you know, what do you think they're gonna say, well, I mean, wait, but.

I think it is starting to permeate into folks who are not underneath what I call the golden bubble down there. You know that, you know, we get so closed in. It's like our own little echo chamber going on. But I think it is starting to permeate because even with this snap the supplemental nutrition program. I mean, you've got you have Senator Bennett calling out and saying it's a disgrace that we're so unaffordable, and then he continues to

vote for the shutdown. This isn't on the Democrat. They continue to vote for the shutdown time and time again. Our two US senators keep doing that. And basically, you know, and it's a one hundred and twenty million dollar program a month, and Post is like, well, let's fill the gap with ten million bucks. And I'm like, you need to call a state of emergency, tap into the emergency fund, and start figuring out how to make this work in

our state. Because it's six hundred thousand people that aren't going to have food on their table, and half of those three hundred thousand of them are kids. So what does he think they're going to do for Thanksgiving? For goodness sakes? You know. But here's what's happened just recently, and I had mag comments and I started talking to some of my county's richter friends. Jefferson County declared an

emergency disaster that people aren't going to get fed. This is a this is a big deal, you know kind of thing, and you know, but here's here's Bennett, Well, we're unaffordable, and you know whose fault is it? It's the Democrats. And then on top of it all, he keeps shutting down government and is the real him and Hickenlooper are right there at the top of the list of people who are denying people's food in our state. That's ridiculous. That's just ridiculous to me.

is an increase. Of course, now I'm getting pushed back from not only the Governor's office, but even people on the Joint Budget Committee who don't want to keep those rates up because I guess people just everyone needs to understand when you cut the Medicaid provider rates, it cuts access to certainly right off the top the one point two million people who are on Medicaid, but it ends up cutting access for everybody in the state of Colorado

because those providers leave the system. So I already talked about hospitals that have closed their maternal healthcare wards. We have hospitals now that are in Loveland and Greeley that are turning the close things like their emergency centers and they're in patient services because they can't afford to bring on Medicaid patients because it's running their hospital into the ground kind of thing, and so they can't thrive, they

can't continue on. So it's going to impact everybody. And then last year able to carry a bill working again with the Hospital Association and looking at how do we pull down federal dollars, you know, the taxes that we pay in I'm trying to make sure we get them back here for our books, but how do we pull

down federal dollars to stabilize the safety net. And we were able to again, working with hospitals who are going to contribute, you know, donate funds for us to the state so that we can pull down federal funds essentially a match, you know, it's a dollar for dollar match kind of thing to start stabilizing our healthcare safety net.

So those are things that I've worked on, but quite frankly, it's we have got to get some legislators and a governor's office who understand that when you cut medicaid, what I mean, our healthcare system is in crisis mode and they're just making it worse for everyone in this state. And so I do my best to try and you know, increase the education part. But as a governor, there are other things that we should be cutting other than Medicaid.

I mean, the governor came in with his budget request to cut Medicaid by another three hundred to three hundred and thirty million dollars.

i'd talk to. And so he's like the emperor who wears no clothes, right, but he's walking around and what he thinks are these great clothes and he basically has no clothes on. Rite that story, and that's what he's doing. It's like, look, if I just keep telling you over and over and over again that I've saved you money. You're gonna believe me I saved you money. So if I keep telling you over and over again that I'm balancing the budget, You're going to believe me that I

balanced the budget. And people do need to push back. In fact, I've had some of those conversations, and I was talking you know, at the hospital Association and you know, these patient groups, and it's like, it can't just be me, it has to be all of you that start pushing back. You need to get the message out through your associations, through your organizations, through your patient organizations, that the governor is doing this. I mean, the disability organizations, you know,

non for profit groups are out there. They're they're getting the message out. That's why we're starting to see more stories. But the governor isn't feeling any pain here. He's not feeling anything, you know. You know at one point, you know, I asked, you know, some of his staff last year, like why does the governor hate kids with autism? Yeah? When I put that out on Twitter, I finally get there,

you know, get their attention. But it's things like that, and you know, and it's kind of wait, wait, let me let me stalk you right there.

years of age. They need to have these evaluations and these assessments done. And what was happening is because the provider rate was so low that the assessments, the waiting list was getting pushed out like twelve and eighteen months. I mean, this assessment is what then determines around four and five years of age, the types of resources that these children need so that they can have a successful future, successful life, you know, a better quality of life in

the future. And we were cutting we weren't pick puff was pulling back on them on the Medicaid rates for

these certain codes. Okay, So I was able to push through and at that time the members of the Joint Budget Committee backed me up, and we were able to push through an increase to the Medicaid provider rate for these codes, for these so these kids could get these assessments, so that providers would quit leaving our state, and that they would you know, quit leaving the system, and that they would stay in the system and these kids could

get their assessments. I was so bafter we got that pushed through, and it was a JBC, a Joint Budget Committee supplemental that I was, you know, really pushed on. But again the other members agreed with me. We get a push through. I'm told by you know, one of the staff members of the Governor's office like, well, we're going to do a comeback on that and and cut that out. And I'm like them, are like, oh, please do so I can explain to everybody how you hate

kids with autism, Like why is that? And then but here's what happened. That was part of his cut right after the special session, is to cut that rate. Specifically, the thing that I had increase they cut. I mean, I think they're like target anything I do, frankly, so I'm just like, you know, why does the governor hate kids with autism? You know, why does the governor hate kids that are in school, like, you know, in special education? Then he doesn't want to fund them, you know kind

of thing. And you know, I mean that's how that's how far I feel like I have to go to get his attention and then you know, then his staff will come back with something. But in the meantime, he's cut those kids with autism, he's cut families who have children adult children with disabilities, when he's cutting MEDICAIDS. That's what's happening. Those people are starting to push back. There have been some articles, but it just needs to be everybody,

and it's not just the governor. The leg lators that are on the Joint Budget Committee need to have an understanding of how this is hurting all Colorado families, not just a few. It's hurting everybody. And the Governor's budget request, the Governor's coming in front of us the Joint Budget Committee. On Wednesday we have our session where he has to

present his budget request. His budget request is cutting medicaid bought out, and I asked them in the one on one meeting that I did eventually have with the governor and the Office of State Planning and Budget Director Mark Ferandino. I finally had a meeting with them after I had to complain about things and you know, and put out messages and Mary Anne Goodlin from the Colorada Politics put an article out on this stuff. I asked him, I was like, how much general fun are you actually cutting

in your budget request. They won't even answer the question. They're like, well, that's a pudicator, so it's not that complicated. I need to know. And that's the question I'm going to ask next week. By the way, So on Wednesday, I'm asking that question. I hope they have an answer. I said, well, have you back on?