Last fall I conducted an informal poll through my newsletter to ascertain the most pressing issues in our community that needed to be addressed this session. The top three issues were education, transportation, and housing. This week I had the pleasure of attending a bill signing ceremony for a host of new bills aimed to address the third item on the list--the high cost of housing.
The first bill of four signed into law was my bill,
HB19-1228, to increase the tax credit allocation for affordable housing. This bill authorizes an increase in the aggregate amount of tax credits that the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) may allocate in a calendar year under the Colorado affordable housing tax credit program. This was a bipartisan bill also sponsored by Senator Jack Tate, and Representatives Bird and Titone.
Colorado's Affordable Housing Tax Credit program raises the private sector equity needed to support the development and preservation of affordable rental housing. It is modeled after the nationally recognized federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) created in 1986 under President Reagan's administration. CHFA is currently authorized to allocate $5 million in state AHTC through 2024, and the bill raises the amount to $10 million.
Between 2015 - 2018, the state AHTC program has directly supported the development of 4,796 affordable rental units, and enabled CHFA to support 15,312 units using state and/or federal LIHTC. The sale of the state and federal tax credits allocated will generate over $534 million in private sector equity investment in Colorado that otherwise would not have occurred. And, the development of the 4,796 units directly supported with state AHTC is estimated to generate over $1.9 billion in economic impact in Colorado.
There were a few other bills also signed into law that will help address housing affordability:
HB19-1245: Affordable Housing Funding from Vender Fee Changes. This bill will increase affordable housing funding from increased state sales tax revenue that results from a modification to the state sales tax vendor fee. This has the additional benefit of created a tax cut for small businesses in our state.
HB19-1319: Incentives for Developers of Affordable Housing. This bill will create incentives to assist land developers in providing affordable housing statewide by identifying non-developed land owned by the state that could be developed for affordable housing purposes and making modifications to the administration of an existing property tax exemption that applies to certain affordable housing developments.
HB19-1322: Expand the Supply of Affordable Housing. This bill authorizes the use of money from certain state funds to expand the supply of affordable housing statewide.
If one thing has been made clear this year in Colorado, it's that housing is a major issue. Hopefully, these new laws will start making progress toward addressing this most pressing issue. At the very least, I believe these bills will complement the good work that is happening at the local level to address housing.
Rachel Zenzinger
Rachel Zenzinger won election to the Colorado State Senate, representing District 19, in November 2016. She also served as Senator for SD19 in 2014. Sen. Zenzinger is a member of the Joint Budget Committee, the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Chair of the Statutory Revision Committee, a member of the Interim School Finance Committee, and a board member of the Statewide Internet Portal Authority.
Joint event for next 'What's brewing'
The next 'What's Brewing at the Capitol' will be a combined event with Rep. Brianna Titone. So mark your calendars now for Wednesday, June 19 at 6:30 pm at the Denver Brewing Company in Olde Town Arvada. This will be a casual conversation with your SD19 State Senator a HD27 House Rep. See you then!
Arvada Chamber of Commerce "Impression of the Session" panel
Tracking your Senator
On Tuesday, I met with OSPB Director to discuss next year's budget... I also attended the Building a Better Colorado meeting in Westminster to discuss tax policy...
On Thursday, I attended the Home Care Association of Colorado conference and received the "Legislator of the Year" award...
On Friday, I attended the Arvada Chamber of Commerce "Impression of the Session" panel discussion... I attended a bill signing for HB19-1228 on the Affordable Housing Tax Credit... I also spoke on a panel about education to the Democratic Education Initiative...
On Saturday, we hosted our monthly Town Hall meeting with Capitol journalists to discuss the session.
Home Care Association of Colorado Award Luncheon
If there is an event you think I should attend, please notify me!
Donations to
Rachel For Colorado
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