Remember back in 2019 when Gov. Polis expanded Big Government and established the Orwellian Office of Saving People Money?
Republicans thought it would be a great idea to find out if this new state agency was actually saving anybody money.
So, Republican state Sen. Dennis Hisey of Colorado Springs introduced SB 61 to require the Office of Saving People Money to report to the legislature on its actual funding and activities, and whether they are in fact saving people money.
Long story short, Democrat steered the bill to the infamous “Kill Committee,” and killed it.
⚠️ Democrats Kill Transparency Bill ⚠️@SenDennisHisey‘s SB22-061 – which would’ve ensured that taxpayers could see if the Office of Saving People Money on Health Care was producing results – was killed by @COSenDem today in committee.
Here’s what the Senator had to say ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/XAtmEqcB4Q
— Colorado Senate Republicans (@ColoSenGOP) February 2, 2022
From Colorado Politics:
Hisey told the State Affairs committee Tuesday that the only information he could find on just what the office does is on the salary paid to the Lt. Governor, who runs it. There’s no information on its funding, number of staff, or its progress toward its primary goal.
“We need to get something into the public domain other than the lieutenant governor’s salary,” the lawmaker said.
Dianne Primavera is paid nearly $75,000 a year to head that office and do whatever it is they do that they don’t want the legislature or public knowing about.
That’s in addition to her regular salary as the lieutenant governor that pays nearly $94,000.
That’s $169,000 a year she’s making, and we’ve barely laid on eyes on her since she was first elected with Polis!
Hell, we had forgotten she even existed. But now that we’ve put her back on PeakNation’s™ radar, we’re willing to bet she will come out of hiding by next week and take credit for something stupid — like Polis’s idea to “save” people money by not raising driver licenses fees.
Killing that legislation was shameful, but Democrats managed to look even shadier by putting the hatchet to another bill requiring hospitals to reveal a secret fee that’s tagged onto patients’ bills.
⚠️ Democrats Kill Affordability/Transparency Bill ⚠️
Senator @JerrySonnenberg‘s SB22-038 – which would’ve allowed patients to see how much they pay towards the Hospital Provider Fee – was killed in committee by @COSenDem today. pic.twitter.com/Sga1NRL2ZW
— Colorado Senate Republicans (@ColoSenGOP) February 2, 2022
Sponsored by Republican Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg of Sterling, SB 38 would have allowed hospitals to include the “Provider Fee” as a line item on every patient’s bill.
The fee is based on the patient’s daily stays and services, calculated up to 6% of net patient revenues. That money is then redistributed by government to cover costs of uninsured patients.
The Colorado Hospital Association even backed the bill, but Democrats don’t want you to know what they are doing with your money.