HB21-1028: Annual Public Report on Housing

Bill Sponsors

• Rep. Bird

• Rep. Rich

• Sen. Story

• Sen. Woodward

Overview

HB21-1028 creates a single, transparent report for tracking new (and current) investments to increase affordable housing options for all Colorado families.

Under this bill, the Division of Housing would:

• Report on the total amount of money the division or the state housing board received from any federal, state, other public, or private source during the prior fiscal year and how they are spending these dollars.

• Report on what type of housing they are supporting (rapid re-housing or supportive, rental, or homeownership) and how many units are being produced or preserved with these dollars

Why this legislation is important

• Provide Transparency of State Dollars

• Elevate Future Funding Needs

• Guarantee a Housing Continuum that Promotes Social and Economic Mobility

• Respond to Coloradans that Identified Housing Affordability as the Biggest Issue Facing Coloradans

• Ensure State Resources are Deployed throughout Colorado

Colorado faces an affordable housing crisis. The housing crisis is not a Front Range, resort, or rural issue; it is impacting all of Colorado. In 2018 the Shift Research Lab identified through their research Factors Impacting Housing Affordable, that the primary challenge is housing supply.

Homelessness

The 2020 Point in Time Shelter shows 840 homeless men, women, and children:

• 9% families with children

• 20% under the age of 25

• 60% reported at least one disabling condition

• 20% chronically homeless

• 14% currently fleeing domestic violence

• 11% veterans

Affordable Rentals

Currently to meet the demand Colorado needs over 200,000 additional affordable rental units. 22% of renter households are extremely low income. To afford a two-bedroom rental home at HUD’s fair market rent a household’s annual income needs to be $52,694.

Cost of Homeownership

In December 2020, 12% of the active for sale listings were under $200,000; whereas, 50% of the active listings were over $500,000. Colorado has the 4^th highest median home prices in the country, as of January 2021. The median home value of a single-family home in Colorado is $445,000. To purchase a home, a household would need to earn a minimum of $100,000. In every corner of our state -teachers, firefighters, nurses, restaurant managers, city workers – the very people who help make our communities safe, healthy, and thriving – cannot afford a decent place to live.

The annual public report on housing legislation will:

Elevate Future Funding Needs.
The annual report will provide data to understand needs around the state and drive future funding to be strategically invested. It will help provide answers to important questions:

• Is gap financing working?

• How does land cost affect development?

• Is the state’s current investment meeting the need?

Guarantee a Housing Continuum that Promotes Social and Economic Mobility for all Coloradans.
Housing instability — including frequent moves, overcrowding, and the threat of eviction or foreclosure — creates stress, depression and hopelessness for far too many families. Adults living in housing that they struggle to afford often describe themselves as less healthy, and the well-being and development of millions of children is compromised by living in insecure housing. Families paying too high a percentage of their income for housing often find themselves making impossible choices.

A decent and affordable place to live helps families by freeing them from such physical and mental hardships and placing them on a path of new opportunity and increased confidence and self-reliance.

Provide Transparency on How Housing Dollars are Spent.
In 2019, state legislators approved the passage of bills, HB19-1245 and HB19-1322, to provide stronger investment in affordable housing across Colorado. Further, in 2020, voters passed Proposition EE, which also provides time-limited funding for affordable housing from new tobacco tax revenues. Together, these efforts are expected to result in $80 million to $100 million in new revenue for the Housing Development Grant (HDG) program over the next few years. HB21-1028 creates a single, transparent report for tracking new (and current) investments to increase affordable housing options for all Colorado families.

Coloradans identified housing affordability as the biggest issue facing the state. Housing stock and affordability is a statewide issue impacting individuals, employers, and communities. In Colorado, 1 in 7 households spend more than half their income on housing.

Accountability demonstrates the value of public policy and it can only be achieved when the sources and uses of public funds are transparent to stakeholders.

Ensure State Resources are Deployed throughout Colorado.
The housing crisis is not a Front Range, a resort, or rural issue; it is impacts all of Colorado.

Housing Needs Assessments from across the state show that communities desire diverse housing options, employers need housing for employees and Colorado can do more.