The US Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have terminated $250 million in ongoing and planned federal funding for public and behavioral healthcare in Colorado.
A spokesperson for the Behavioral Health Administration said the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration notified the state of the termination on Monday and said it was implementing the President’s “Department of Government Efficiency” Cost Efficiency Initiative and the grants were terminated effective March 24, 2025.
The money in question comes from the pandemic-era American Rescue Plan Act, which originally had a spending deadline of Sept. 20, 2025. In its notice to the state, the federal government said that because the COVID crisis was over, it would instead end all funding this month.
“These grants were issued for a limited purpose: To ameliorate the effects of the pandemic. The end of the pandemic provides cause to terminate COVID-related grants. Now that the pandemic is over, the grants are no longer necessary,” states an excerpt of the notification from SAMHSA shared by the Behavioral Health Administration.
State officials greeted the news with dismay.
“In so many cases, these are life-saving programs and services, and we worry for the wellbeing of those who have come to count on this support,” BHA spokeswoman Allie Eliot, wrote in an email to CPR News.
“This sudden change impacts 60 programs across the state of Colorado that provide a wide range of services including: crisis resolution teams, services for adults with serious mental illness, peer services for Coloradans in recovery for substance use disorder, and support for young adults who have experienced an early onset of psychotic spectrum illness - just to name a few.”
Eliot said the Behavioral Health Administration is actively working with state leaders, the governor's office and the Colorado Attorney General’s Office to determine next steps.
The Department of Public Health and Environment said that the state is still trying to assess the full impact of the funding cuts on its programs, since some of the more than $200 million was intended to support local public health agencies and Tribal Nations. The money was slated to go to areas like addressing COVID-19 health disparities, vaccines for children and lab capacity for prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases.
“We are concerned that this sudden loss of federal funding threatens Colorado’s ability to track COVID-19 trends and other emerging diseases, modernize disease data systems, respond to outbreaks, and provide critical immunization access, outreach, and education—leaving communities more vulnerable to future public health crises,” CDPHE spokeswoman Kristina Lodice said in an email.
Colorado lawmakers are already dealing with a $1.2 billion shortfall and are in the process of finalizing the state’s next budget, which must be balanced. It’s unclear how this federal funding cut will impact the state’s overall budget picture.
Democratic Rep. Emily Sirota, a budget committee member, said she thinks these cuts in federal funding are just the beginning.
“These are millions of dollars of planned expenditures. They were planned for, contracted for, and are now being pulled back within the public health space, especially around immunization and disease detection work,” said Sirota.
She said Colorado doesn’t have the money to backfill the lost funding.
“There will be very real consequences to real people in Colorado. And we are not going to be able to pick up all of the pieces. And so it's frightening.”
Another budget committee member, Democratic Sen. Judy Amabile worried about the consequences for Coloradans who rely on these programs.
“People who are in desperate need of the services that they provide won't be able to get them and that will hurt them,” said Amabile.
Rep. Shannon Bird, vice-chair of the budget committee echoed that sentiment, and said without a partnership with the federal government, the state has no capacity to fund these programs in the way it has in the past. And she reiterated that the money comes from federal tax dollars.
“What people need to know is that this is Coloradan's money coming back to us to invest in critical behavioral healthcare needs. Critical public health needs.”
