When 2025 dawned, and the new federal administration took the reins in Washington, people across Western Colorado did not know what was in store for our country and how it would impact our rural communities. Our Alliance was tracking what was unfolding in Washington with a sense of trepidation, while trying to stay focused on our local and state work, knowing that this was where we could have the largest impact.
Then the federal cuts started happening. Cuts to the federal workforce, where Western Coloradans lost their jobs, and critical government agencies serving our rural area were gutted. Cuts to important agricultural programs, freezing grants for farmers, and local food purchasing programs. Cuts to clean energy funding for rural electric co-ops, threatening projects across multiple counties. Cuts to protections for clean air and water; cuts to oil and gas royalties, costing taxpayers $811 million as a handout to the industry.
Cuts to SNAP benefits that 45,367 Western Coloradans rely on for food access. Cuts to Medicare, which could throw an estimated 98,000 Western Coloradans off their insurance, while threatening rural hospitals and driving up insurance premiums. And more cuts to come.
Soon, it became clear that while the dysfunction and threats in DC were far away geographically, the impacts of the administration’s budget decisions were going to have immediate and painful impacts on rural communities across Western Colorado. Then, the “Big Ugly Bill” was passed, and the threats became reality. So many of the programs and institutions that our members have worked to establish over the past 45 years are now under threat.
The Bell Policy Center’s analysis of the impacts of all these federal cuts shows that rural Colorado will be disproportionately impacted by the loss of critical services.
Enough is enough. This administration promised prosperity and a better economy for rural areas, but instead, it is delivering an austerity agenda that is going to hit rural and working people the hardest.
While this is a daunting and unprecedented time in our history, it is also a historic opportunity to come together with our neighbors and work to protect our rural communities. To meet this moment, our Alliance is launching our largest organizing effort to date called “Care Over Cuts,” to unite our Alliance behind one banner and deliver a unified message to our decision makers on all levels of government:
That government and elected officials must work for rural communities and working families, not for billionaires. That programs that keep our hospitals open, our kids fed, our family farmers on the land, our electricity rates low, and our public lands open to the public cannot be cut to pay for tax breaks for billionaires.
Over the next year, our Alliance will be reaching out to people across Western Colorado to understand how these cuts are impacting our communities and our families. We will invite people to act with us to demand the care and support our communities need to thrive. We will show up in force to the Colorado Legislature and deliver our Care Over Cuts agenda to gubernatorial candidates. We pledge to activate over 5,000 Western Slope voters to hold candidates and elected officials accountable to our demands. We will act for an affordable quality of life, healthy communities, and opportunities for all.
And together, we will win. Join us!
