Copyright The Denver Post
Colorado’s U.S. House members voted along party lines Wednesday night as the chamber approved a bill to reopen the federal government after a historic 43-day shutdown. The state’s four Republican representatives voted in favor of the funding bill, which passed 222-209 and went to President Donald Trump for his signature. Colorado’s four Democratic representatives voted no, largely citing the uncertainty for enhanced health care tax credits that are due to expire at the end of the year — and which won’t be resolved by the Senate deal that broke the logjam earlier this week. On Monday night, Colorado’s two U.S. senators also voted no on the funding bill, declining to join the eight Democrats who allowed the legislation to move forward in that chamber. The Senate vote was 60-40. “Trump and Republicans have created an affordability crisis for working Americans and refuse to come to the table to fix it,” Rep. Jason Crow, a Democrat from Aurora, said in a statement Wednesday night. “I cannot support a bill that will make a bad situation worse and hand the American people a raw deal.” Rep. Gabe Evans, a Republican from Fort Lupton, countered that “for 42 days, Democrats have held the American people hostage” by repeatedly rejecting clean funding bills. “Today House Republicans are ending the Schumer shutdown, reopening our government and fully funding three full-year appropriations bills that put America first,” he said, putting blame on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. In a statement, Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, said that while the funding bill would “bring relief to families, businesses and communities across Colorado,” he urged Congress “to renew the enhanced premium tax credits, to avoid health insurance premiums more than doubling in cost, and help Coloradans afford health care.” How they voted Here’s how the state’s U.S. House delegation voted on Wednesday evening, by congressional district: Diana DeGette (1), D-Denver: No Joe Neguse (2), D-Lafayette: No Jeff Hurd (3), R-Grand Junction: Yes Lauren Boebert (4), R-Windsor: Yes Jeff Crank (5), R-Colorado Springs: Yes Jason Crow (6), D-Aurora: No Brittany Pettersen (7), D-Lakewood: No Gabe Evans (8), R-Fort Lupton: Yes Here’s how Colorado’s senators voted on the bill Monday: Michael Bennet (D): No John Hickenlooper (D): No Public affairs editor Jon Murray and the Associated Press contributed to this story.
