Colorado Politics, in a report by Marissa Ventrelli, says Gov. Jared Polis and Democratic leaders rolled out the HOME Act, pitched as a way to cut barriers and enable more housing near transit and businesses. Polis calls it a nation-leading push to get government out of the way so the market can build homes people can afford. The article notes an average single-family home price of about 550,000 dollars and a persistent affordability crunch.
The piece cites state estimates that Colorado needed roughly 106,000 housing units as of 2023, down from a 140,000-unit shortfall in 2019, and would need more than 34,000 new units annually over the next decade to keep up. Sponsors say the bill reduces red tape and lets community organizations and schools build housing on underused land, with Democrats lining up behind the effort.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Big numbers, bigger promises. Supporters cite a 106,000-unit shortfall and claim the bill unleashes the market. That is a lot of faith in a statute.
- Price reality check. The average single-family home runs about $550,000 dollars. A press conference does not knock 100 grand off a listing.
- Build near transit. The plan targets housing by bus lines and business districts. If only trains poured concrete and framed roofs.
- “Cut red tape,” say backers. If the state adds new layers while claiming to remove barriers, that is not a cut. That is a costume.
- Community land pitch. Schools and nonprofits could build on underused parcels. Great idea when financing, permits, and neighbors all magically agree.
My Bottom Line
Have you had enough Democrat control yet? Have you had enough flirtation with socialism yet? Seven years in, Colorado is still unaffordable and the answer from the governor is another state-directed housing scheme dressed up as deregulation. The free market builds homes. Government builds paperwork. No bill from the statehouse adds a single unit by itself. Nails, labor, capital, land, timelines, and local buy-in do that.
If the goal is more housing, then cut the actual red tape. Slash permitting queues. Quit dangling mandates over local governments that know their infrastructure limits better than a Capitol whiteboard. Let builders build where the economics work, not where political talking points look pretty on a ribbon-cutting stage.
Coloradans are not buying this line of BS that says one more grand plan fixes affordability. Stop centralizing land-use power, stop layering rules that jack up costs, and get the state out of the way so private capital can take risk, hire trades, and deliver roofs people can actually afford. You want more homes? Free the market, not the press release.
Source: Colorado Politics
