In a large room in the Colorado Capitol building Wednesday, Mary Bashor’s voice trembled as she described the terror she felt at the prospect of being thrown out of her home for 28 years because of rent increases.
“My biggest fear is having to leave my home that I love, which is filled with memories of my deceased daughter and family. That would kill me,” Bashor said via Zoom during a committee meeting on a bill addressing rent control.
After Colorado home prices soared to crisis levels, Democratic lawmakers are considering a drastic move: repealing the state’s 1981 ban on rent control and allowing local towns and counties to pass their own limits on renters. rentals.
If approved, Colorado would join a group of states, including California and New York, that have some level of rent control at the state or local level. While the bill would not install statewide rent control, the goal is to give communities the power to dampen rent increases after the median home price in the state increases by 40%, about $600,000, as of the beginning of 2020, according to the Zillow rental platform.
Although Democrats hold majorities in both Colorado state houses, the legislation faces an uphill battle.
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Critics argue that rent control discourages developers from building more units, choking housing supply and raising rents in adjacent neighborhoods.
“We understand why these policies seem attractive,” Ted Leighty, executive director of the Colorado Association of Home Builders, said at the committee hearing. “But this policy is a false idol. We need more supply. Period.”
Even the Democratic governor of Colorado, Jared Polis, has opposed similar measures in the past and could veto the bill if it passes both the House and the Senate.
The Colorado State Capitol in Denver is shown on January 9, 2023. Colorado lawmakers are considering repealing the state’s rent control ban. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
“Governor Polis is skeptical that rent control will create more housing, and locations with these policies often have the unintended consequences of higher rents,” his spokeswoman Katherine Jones said in a statement.
The legislation could be changed or watered down to appease the governor as it moves through the legislature.
The bill is one of several housing affordability measures the state’s Democratic-controlled Legislature is considering this year, including opening up state land for affordable housing developments.
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“Almost every issue we debate here in the Legislature is about housing because it’s the most basic of human needs,” Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, a Democrat and one of the bill’s sponsors, said during the committee’s hearing on your rent control bill.
In the Senate, the bill has only one sponsor and could have a better reception than in the House.
“I don’t think anyone thinks that this policy is the only solution; I think it’s a way to provide relief,” said Democratic Senate Chairman Steve Fenberg, adding: “I think it will be a good discussion.”
Construction worker Jimmy Velasco, who lives in Fort Collins, a city north of Denver, testified at the hearing that 60% of his salary went to keep a roof over the heads of his wife and three children.
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As the rent increased with lease renewals, his wife began cleaning to generate an extra paycheck, money that ended up going to pay for childcare while both parents worked during the day.
After seeking support at local food banks and churches, Velasco and her family decided to move.
“We had to think about whether we wanted to eat or have a place to live,” he said.
