We’re past halfway through the 2025 state legislative session, which means the days are getting longer and the debates are becoming more heated.
This week looks to be a big one for several housing bills. This morning, the Colorado House voted on House Bill 1169, also known as the “YIGBY” bill, which stands for “Yes In God’s Backyard,” which would make it easier for religious and educational institutions to build housing on their property. It passed 40 to 23.
That bill, a land-use reform proposal backed by Gov. Jared Polis, will now move to the Senate.
Also on the House agenda is House Bill 1004, which seeks to prohibit some landlords from using rent-setting algorithms. Critics argue that those algorithms are used to artificially raise rents, and the Biden administration discovered that many Denver renters pay more than $1,600 in additional rent each year as a result of the software.
Last year, one software developer successfully defeated an attempt to ban the algorithms, and this year’s version is undergoing changes and is being viewed skeptically by Polis’ office. It still requires a full House vote before proceeding to the Senate, where it effectively died last year.
Other housing bills up for vote this week include House Bill 1207, which would allow tenants in federally subsidized housing to have pets, as well as House Bills 1272 and 1261, which are parallel — if not fully competing — construction defect reform measures.
This week also sees the introduction of another land-use bill, which would allow new apartment buildings to have only one stairwell. That measure, along with the two construction defects bills, will be heard on Tuesday by the House Transportation, Housing, and Local Government Committee.
What else is happening in the Capitol this week:
Fiscal budget forecast
On Monday, the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee will receive the most recent economic forecast from legislative staff and the governor’s office.
The details of the forecast will be crucial: The state is facing a roughly $1 billion shortfall for the next fiscal year, prompting dire discussions about cutting Medicaid or schools, and Monday’s update will provide a final assessment of the state’s financial situation.
That’s because the forecast comes just days before the budget committee is scheduled to present a proposed budget to the full legislature, where it will be debated and passed to Polis. That process is expected — or hoped for — to begin next week, and the final budget will reveal the full scope of not only the deficit but also the steps taken by lawmakers to close it.
All of this is not occurring in a vacuum. Congress must cut more than $880 billion to pay for House Republicans’ tax cuts, a massive reduction that will most likely include additional Medicaid cuts.
More uncertainty from the federal government, which has spent the first weeks of the second Trump administration hacking away at a variety of agencies and state grants, adds to the confusion for budget-makers here.
A joint hearing on affordability
On Wednesday, the House and Senate judiciary committees will hold a joint hearing to talk about “the role of states in protecting affordability.” Details are scarce, but the hearing is expected to include current and former federal officials.
The hearing comes as both the majority Democrats and minority Republicans in the Colorado legislature have expressed a desire to address the state’s high cost of living.
However, they’ve taken different approaches: Republicans have sought to reduce legislature-imposed fees that fund state services (and, in some cases, help supply tax refunds), whereas Democrats have sought to tighten housing regulations and cost increases.
Most Republican proposals have already failed, while Democratic proposals are still making their way through the legislature.
Big bills head to the floor
Senate Bill 71, one of the legislature’s most contentious proposals, has also been one of its quietest, at least in terms of public perception. The bill is a hospital-supported proposal to strengthen the 430B program, which offers discounted medications to specific hospitals.
Since last summer, the majority of the state’s lobbyists have worked for either the hospitals or the pharmaceutical industry, and SB-71 passed its first committee last week. It now moves to the Senate floor for its first vote.
A somewhat competing bill, Senate Bill 124, was also heard in committee last week, but its vote was postponed. The bill, which is supported by pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences, would require that the majority of the $430 billion in funding be spent on patients rather than advertising or paying for hospital boards of directors.
Two other significant bills are also on the agenda: Senate Bill 5, a pro-union proposal to change a provision in Colorado’s labor law, and Senate Bill 3, which would restrict the sale of certain semiautomatic weapons to people who have completed certain training and background checks.
Both measures passed through House committees last week. Both SB 5 and SB 3 are now awaiting appointments with the House Appropriations Committee.
Neither bill is on the calendar yet. House Appropriations typically meets on Friday mornings, and House leadership often schedules contentious bills on Fridays. With a time-consuming budget debate on the horizon, this week could conclude with a lengthy debate on one — or both — of the most contentious bills of the year.