2024 Policy Priorities

1. Maintain, protect, and expand existing funding and financing for affordable housing.
   • Educate legislators about, and advocate for, policies that prioritize extremely low-to-moderate income households.
   • Ensure that any proposals related to supporting the housing needs of higher income households do not conflict with or threaten programs targeted at extremely low-to-moderate income Coloradans.
     
2. Advocate for land use and zoning reforms that will ensure the production of new affordable housing units around the state. These reforms must come with anti-displacement measures to ensure that the impact of such reforms do not negatively impact current residents of communities targeted for development.
   
3. Establish a statewide growth strategy that centers extremely low-to-moderate income households.
   
4. Support funding, programs, and policies aimed at preventing and resolving homelessness for individuals and families throughout the state. This includes supporting efforts to secure sustainable and expanded funding for support services through Medicaid or other sources.
   
5. Reform the state’s construction defects laws to encourage more development of affordable, entry-level homeownership opportunities.
   
6. Increase homeownership opportunities for low-to-moderate income Coloradans.
   

   
   Housing Colorado will employ a diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) lens to assess legislation and align our support in ways that:

   • Advance racial equity,
   • Work toward economic justice,
   • Address the diverse needs of communities across the state including urban, rural, and resort areas, and
   • Dismantle systems and barriers to safe, healthy, quality, and affordable housing for historically marginalized populations.

The following non-legislative actions will also promote affordable housing interests in Colorado:

1. Educate legislators on the housing market, affordable and supportive housing development, and housing financing tools.
2. Work with executive branch agencies to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of state resources to projects and programs around the state targeting extremely low-to-moderate income households.
3. Develop and disseminate research on barriers to affordable housing development and evidence-based solutions.
4. Explore avenues to re-orient resources from prisons, jail, child welfare, and other systems that discharge people into homelessness into proven solutions such as housing first, mental health care, and substance use disorder support.