New Report: CO Families Have Spent $4,000 More On Goods & Services Under President Trump

Hickenlooper: Colorado is facing a cost-of-living emergency

WASHINGTON - As President Trump's tariffs and unpopular war with Iran continue to crush Colorado families, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper highlighted the cost-of-living emergency that's hurting the state.

According to an August report by the Joint Economic Committee Minority, Colorado families have spent $4,000 more in goods and services under President Trump. Some of the key findings from the report include:

• Energy Costs: People across Colorado have spent over $1 billion more on gas since the beginning of the war. That means the average family in Colorado has spent $584 more on gas. Families in Colorado paid at least $80 more for electricity in 2025 under President Trump than they did in 2024. In the first half of 2026, Colorado families paid an estimated $66 more for electricity than they did in the first half of 2024.

• Housing Costs: Colorado families have had to spend $496 more on housing costs such as rent and mortgage payments since President Trump took office.

• Grocery Costs: Americans paid $310 more for groceries in President Trump's first year than in 2024, and grocery prices are now more than 4 percent higher than when Trump took office.

• Healthcare: Monthly Affordable Care Act (ACA) premiums have risen over 50% on average in 2026 compared to last year while deductibles surged to record highs increasing by more than $1,000 on average.

"As I travel across Colorado this month, we keep hearing the same thing: everyday essentials cost too much," said Hickenlooper. "Colorado is facing a cost-of-living emergency made worse by President Trump's illegal war, tariffs, and massive healthcare cuts. We've got to reverse these harmful policies and make life more affordable for working families."

Watch Hickenlooper discuss the cost-of-living emergency on X, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube

While President Trump continues his war with Iran, Hickenlooper has been fighting to lower costs for Americans. Last month, he celebrated the committee passage of his bipartisan Patients Deserve Price Tags Act, which would create true transparency in healthcare pricing and is a first step towards universal healthcare. The bill will help lower healthcare prices through creating opportunities for consumers to compare prices, leading to competition among providers to lower costs.

Hickenlooper helped champion the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act to address the national affordable housing shortage by cutting red tape to build more homes, investing in programs to lower the cost of buying a house, and preventing corporations from dominating the housing market. In 2021, he worked with the Colorado delegation to deliver more than $3.8 billion in American Rescue Plan funding for the state, which included more than $500 million towards affordable housing investments and $300 million in emergency rental assistance for low-income households.

Hickenlooper has spoken multiple times on the Senate floor condemning Trump for dragging America into a highly unpopular war that's driving the cost-of-living through the roof. Hickenlooper has consistently voted to end Trump's costly and deadly war. He's called out skyrocketing gas prices and costly impacts on farmers' bottom lines. Hickenlooper is concerned by the loss of life created by Trump's war, including the deaths of U.S. servicemembers abroad and the increasing civilian death toll.

Hickenlooper has traveled across Colorado to hear from workers, ranchers, and farmers getting crushed by the increasing prices fueled by the war. He's doing a state-wide tour of local hospitals and clinics to meet with Coloradans and hear how they are grappling with the increasing costs of healthcare. This spring, Hickenlooper met with truckers, construction and plumbing small businesses, labor unions, and rideshare drivers to discuss how the President's tariffs and his reckless war in Iran - and the resulting spike in gas prices - is hurting transportation-dependent industries. He heard from a rideshare driver who was struggling to keep food on the table thanks to the increasing prices caused by the war.

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