Capitol Connection – March 22, 2022
Legislative Advocacy this Week at the State Capitol
Halfway Through 120 days of Legislative Session
We’re now just over halfway through the legislative session and the general assembly will begin working on the state budget starting next week.
The forecasts from the Governor’s Office and the Legislative Council Staff both showed a higher risk of inflation and highlighted the high costs of housing in their presentations to the Joint Budget Committee last week.
Like many states, we are required to pass a balanced budget every year in Colorado. For a general overview of how we craft our state budget, start here. To go even more in depth with the policy of the state budget click here.
Bill Updates
Legislation At the Capitol CAR is Tracking
HB22-1102 : Veterans and Military Status in Fair Housing, prohibits anyone selling or renting a dwelling from discriminating against an individual based on their veteran or military status. CAR is supporting this legislation, after working to amend this legislation to clarify that nothing in this legislation prohibits a seller of property from considering legitimate and non-discriminatory factors when deciding whether or not to accept an offer.
Our housing industry colleagues, the home builders association, also added further clarifications that nothing in this bill prevents adherence to federal laws related to eligibility for veterans’ affairs benefits related to options on a home contract or pro-active friendly advertisements to promote veteran or military housing benefits. The bill has now passed both houses and will go to the Governor for his consideration.
HB22-1111: Insurance Coverage For Loss Declared Fire Disaster, establishes new coverage requirements for property and casualty insurance policies issued or renewed in Colorado, that apply in the event of a loss of a residence as a result of a declared fire disaster. The bill also establishes new requirements for insurers who issue or renew property and casualty insurance policies, concerning an insurer’s handling of policy claims after such a loss occurs.
CAR supports this important legislation to update insurance policies to meet the tragic needs of Coloradans who face the most devastating loss of their home and all their belongings. This legislation improves the process of submitting receipts for replacement costs , takes account of the time needed to remove debris and rebuild, and accounts for current living expenses while victims await the construction timeframe. It also, clarifies the structure around communication between the insurance provider and the victim throughout the process of recovery. The bill worked through the House and is now starting in the Senate.
HB22-1137: Homeowners’ Association Board Accountability And Transparency The bill establishes required notification procedures and limitations that dictate how the homeowners’ association (HOA) may pursue recovering the assessment, including the methods and types of information to be disclosed and limits on late fees and interest it may charge when a unit owner in a HOA is delinquent in paying their HOA assessment. Once the procedures have been completed, the HOA may attempt to recover delinquent payments and appropriate costs in small claims court, up to certain limits.
CAR testified in support of this legislation recently, because no one should lose their home related to escalating fees from appearance of property violations of HOA rules. This bill had it’s first committee hearing and was laidover for action at a future committee hearing.
HB22-1117: Use of Local Lodging Tax Revenue, expands the allowable uses of revenue from state-collected local marketing districts and county lodging tax. For local marketing districts or counties, the bill allows these local entities to use lodging tax revenue for housing and childcare for the tourism-related workforce, seasonal workers, and other workers in the community. For counties, the bill allows lodging tax revenue to be used for housing and childcare for the tourism-related workforce, seasonal workers, and other workers in the community. The expanded uses of each tax are conditional on voter approval under TABOR.
CAR supported this legislation with testimony because we know the severe lack of inventory is truly scary. This amended bill is the result of broad stakeholder conversations. The legislation respects local control, gives voters a say, and gives local governments the options they need to address the quality of life impacts of tourism on local civil servants, businesses and visitors.
Without tourism revenue, many of our local communities would be devastated by lost county or municipal revenue. Businesses need employees to be able to provide valued customer service, which enables Colorado to be a place where people of all walks of life come to work, live and play. And this bill pays it forward to the citizens of Colorado who are facing one of the very highest costs of housing and childcare in the country. The bill passed both houses and is now on its way to the Governor for his consideration.
Coming Next Week: CAR will break-down the affordable housing taskforce proposals at the Capitol.
Housing Industry News & Upcoming Events
Don’t Miss Fair Housing Month Events in April
Join your colleagues and learn more about Fair Housing in April with some amazing content being offered by the Colorado Association of REALTORS(R). Click Here to Register
April 5th History of the Fair Housing Act in Colorado (1 CE credit)
April 12th Implicit Bias Training (3 CE credits)
April 26th Learning about how fair housing violations are filed ** April 1-22 get access to complete the NAR Fair Haven simulation challenge**
RPAC Announcements
Spring Into RPAC in April
Have you purchased your ticket for the RPAC Reception at Spring Summit?!
You don’t want to miss out on a great evening supporting RPAC, enjoying a couple cocktails and bidding on some great items at the live auction! The reception will be Wednesday, April 20th from 4:30pm – 6:30pm at the Sebastian Hotel in Vail. Be sure to pre-purchase your ticket by clicking here
We are looking forward to seeing you all in Vail! Thank you for supporting RPAC.