In major defeat for Jared Polis, housing bill dies

Gov. Jared Polis' housing proposal — which, as originally introduced sought to impose state mandates and effectively strip local governments of their authority over land use and zoning — is dead after all-day negotiations failed to find a compromise between the Senate and House versions.

The bill's failure marks the biggest defeat for Polis, who has been able to persuade the General Assembly's Democrats to support his major policy proposals every year since he took office in January 2019. 

At just after 7 p.m., Senate Majority Leader Dominick Moreno, D-Commerce City, confirmed the bill is dead for the 2023 session. 

"You win some, you lose some," said Rep. Steven Woodrow, the House sponsor of Senate Bill 213, which will be allowed to die on the calendar without the Senate ever discussing the amendments made by the House. 

The Senate had effectively gutted the bill, turning it into a requirement for a statewide housing needs assessment, but House Democrats restored substantial portions of what had been gutted, setting up a showdown with the Senate.

A contingent of Senate Democrats, including Joint Budget Committee chair Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, D-Arvada, is believed to be opposed to the House changes, particularly efforts to hand over to the state control of zoning. Zenzinger referred to it as her "bright line" over which she would not cross, and sources said there were at least six more Democrats backing that position, which would be more than enough to get the Senate to adhere to its version and rebuff the House changes. 

Senate President Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder, had hoped his caucus would agree to a conference committee, but the announcement of the bill's defeat came before the Senate returned to conclude its business for the 2023 session. 

Polis identified housing as his top priority in his 2023 State of the State address, mentioning it 37 times. 

In a statement, Polis spokesman Conor Cahill said, "Changing the status quo isn’t easy."  

The governor, Cahill said, is "deeply disappointed that politics and special interests continue to delay delivering real results for aging Colorado seniors who want to downsize, young families who want to live close to their work and the communities where they grew up, and businesses struggling with workplace shortages because of artificially high housing costs."

He said the governor and his allies are "deeply committed" to tackling the "higher and higher costs" facing Coloradans. Polis, he said, is confident that "reducing costly barriers to housing will prevail."

The Colorado Municipal League, which represents 270 cities and towns and led the opposition to SB 213, raised concerns about "its unconstitutional preemption of home rule authority and inappropriate intrusion into local control."

"However, CML had also offered a vision of meaningful legislation that it and its members could support, emphasizing partnership over preemption," the group said, adding it is optimistic about future discussions and stakeholder engagement.

Kevin Bommer, CML's executive director, repeatedly said that stakeholder engagement did not happen with SB 213.

"Early in the legislative session and in testimony, CML committed to a vision of affordable housing legislation Colorado municipalities could support and that would both preserve constitutional home rule and local control, as well as address the urgent need for affordable housing across the state," Bommer said. "We still are committed to that vision.”