Are Colorado’s Democrats so hyper partisan that they would rather see people go homeless than support a creative incentive plan to encourage senior citizens to rent out rooms, simply because the bill was authored by a Republican?
A party-line vote that killed the bill this week proves that yes, Democrats are that partisan and petty.
Sponsored by Sen. Paul Lundeen of Monument, Senate bill 72 would have offered $500 incentive grants to pay for background checks, lease documents and other start up costs to encourage seniors to help put affordable roofs over folks’ heads.
He called it a light-touch effort to catalyze the market of pre-existing housing sock, an invisible hand instead of onerous government regulations to quickly get more people into affordable housing.
It’s a nifty idea, but Democrats are just miffed they didn’t think of it first. Seriously, state Sen. Tammy Story said she found the idea frightening the bill encouraged “informal arrangements” between grown adults and (checks notes) roommates.
She also said that if the bill really had merit, it would’ve been thought of already by the legislative task force on affordable housing, which this week debuted several bills that will make use of a historic influx of federal stimulus money from the American Rescue Plan Act.
See? If it was such a good idea, Democrats would have already thought of it and government would have taxed us and spent billions of dollars on a $500 grant program.
⚠️Democrats Kill Affordability Bill⚠️@Paul_Lundeen‘s Senate Bill 72, which would have distributed $500 grants to senior homeowners who open their homes for renters, was killed on party lines yesterday in committee.
Here’s what the Senator had to say ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/qQddnmFlc3
— Colorado Senate Republicans (@ColoSenGOP) March 9, 2022
“It’s estimated that as many as 10,000 dwellings would be activated in Colorado if more people understood and had a tiny bit of support to become a home sharer,” Lundeen said. “And for someone who may be sleeping in their car or on the street tonight, an affordable home share may be just the opportunity they need to get on their feet on the way back to a better life.”
The problem Democrats would have with the Republican idea — it doesn’t create a permanent government bureaucracy, the grants are a one time offer to stimulate the market and get people into affordable housing quickly, and home sharing is already supported by non-profit organizations.
The free market and thinking outside of the box to find affordable housing was just too difficult for the Democrat-controlled legislature to grasp.