An executive order for affordable housing has been issued by Governor Jared Polis following his previous bill being pronounced dead. The order is aimed at boosting the rate at which new housing gets built, creating more opportunities for people who are in need of better living situations and areas. Colorado’s current population of roughly 5.9 million people is only growing, and everyone deserves the basic human need of shelter from the elements. By 2030, Colorado is projected to have six million people living here.
Unfortunately, this order for affordable housing will have far less impact than it would if it were the initially planned bill, Senate Bill 213, which would have prevented the restriction of equal opportunity housing being built. The executive order does have a few of the same goals, such as hastening the construction of affordable housing, but unfortunately cannot garner the same amount of funding a bill would. The order was still given, regardless of its limits, in order to set a moral example for other states, which will hopefully follow suit and provide more affordable housing. “This executive order is doing everything the state can do with existing authority to turn around more housing quicker for addressing the housing crisis than so many residents in our state face,” Governor Polis says. “In housing time is money. It simply adds to cost when there are delays.”
The changes created by the affordable housing executive order will begin in January 2024 with a legislative session. As Brian Rossbert, executive director of the nonprofit affordable housing organization Housing Colorado says, “We are confident that the governor and the legislature will continue to keep the issue of housing top of mind as we move toward 2024. The actions taken today will help inform further legislative action that will help move the needle on our housing crisis.”
