Shannon Bird and Manny Rutinel Spent Over $100M of Taxpayer Dollars on Benefits for Illegal Immigrants
Out of touch Democrats Shannon Bird and Manny Rutinel led the charge to provide taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal immigrants in Colorado. The program cost Colorado taxpayers more than $100 million “as the state grapples with a $1.5 billion budget shortfall.“
Shannon Bird and Manny Rutinel, “who supported the program in the Colorado legislature are now seeking a promotion to the House of Representatives.”
Read more from The Washington Free Beacon here or see excerpts below:
Colorado’s Free Health Care Program for Illegal Immigrant ‘Pregnant Persons’ and Children, Backed by Dem Congressional Hopefully, Costs Seven Times More Than Planned
The Washington Free Beacon
Andrew Kerr
April 6, 2026
A Colorado program launched in 2025 to provide taxpayer-funded health care to illegal immigrant “pregnant persons” and children is costing seven times more than expected. The program, which was estimated to cost less than $15 million but has ballooned in costs to nearly $105 million this fiscal year, has emerged as a sore spot as the state grapples with a $1.5 billion budget shortfall that could lead to deep cuts to Medicaid and other programs for citizens.
Two of the Democrats who supported the program in the Colorado legislature are now seeking a promotion to the House of Representatives.
Democratic lawmakers, including former state representative Shannon Bird, one of the candidates vying to represent Colorado’s Eighth Congressional District, passed a law in 2022 to create the Cover All Coloradans program. It provides state-funded health care for “pregnant persons” and children who would qualify for Medicaid if they weren’t illegal immigrants. Fiscal analysts estimated at the time that the program would draw 3,700 enrollees at a cost of $14.7 million to the state.
But the illegal immigrant population in Colorado spiked as the law passed, rising from 160,000 in 2021 to more than 200,000 in 2025, according to the Pew Research Center. Costs for the Cover All Coloradans program increased sixfold to $104.5 million to Colorado taxpayers after 28,000 immigrants enrolled in the program when it launched in 2025, the Colorado Sun reported.
The program—a direct response in blue Colorado to the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration—was funded by the 2025 statewide appropriations bill, a measure supported by Bird and her top Democratic challenger for the congressional seat, state representative Manny Rutinel, who joined the state legislature in 2023.
[…]
Rutinel is the favorite to win the Democratic nomination for the eighth district during the upcoming primary in June. He reported in late February raising over $3 million for his campaign and he’s secured endorsements from leading Democrats, including Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Bird, who resigned from the Colorado legislature in December to focus on her congressional bid, has raised $1.2 million for her campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records.