Gov. Jared Polis delivered his annual State of the State address Thursday to a gathering of state lawmakers, officials and community leaders, urging the legislature to prioritize Colorado’s affordable housing crisis. He also called for legislation around transportation, public safety, environmental protections, high health care costs, tax relief and behavioral health care.
“In our state, there's a sense of hopelessness and despair around housing,” Polis said. “Together, we can create more housing for Coloradans at all income levels and increase access to convenient and low-cost transit opportunities—improve our quality of life, make the future of our state brighter, and our state more livable.”
The governor believes creating more housing centered around transit routes and developing public transportation is an important part of solving the housing crisis. He painted a picture of life in Colorado with accessible, reliable trains and buses.
“Imagine leaving your home and heading to the train stop or bus station just a few blocks away. Maybe you walk or ride your bike. You don’t have to worry about whether you have enough gas, or if the roads will be icy,” Polis said.
Polis also touted the strength of the state economy, referencing the almost $2 billion in expected excess tax revenue this year that will be refunded to taxpayers under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, or TABOR. He said that’s a sign that lawmakers need to cut taxes.
“Taxes are simply too high: income taxes, property taxes, and the state sales tax,” Polis said. “Tax relief is the best mechanism to relieve cost of living pressure and spur economic growth for everyone in our state.”
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Democratic lawmakers expressed little support for tax cuts, but generally supported Polis’ priorities. Democratic House Speaker Julie McCluskie, whose Summit County-based district covers parts of the northern mountains, said she supports the governor's plan even though he only briefly mentioned water and wildfire.
"I am not concerned about the number of words the governor gave to these two topics, because I know that he is deeply committed to protecting, again, both our water future and any threat of wildfire," McCluskie told KUNC. "And I will be a loud voice on our water front."
Republicans support the tax cuts and say they agree that the governor’s priorities are important issues, but are skeptical about how Gov. Polis and the Democratic majority may choose to address them.
"The governor recognizes the problems. He even recognizes some of the solutions," Republican Senate Assistant Minority Leader Bob Gardner said. "You know, we need to provide the solutions that the people of Colorado want, not the solutions that the governor would like to be."
Republicans also are hopeful that Polis supports legislation to roll back construction defect liability laws in order to incentivize real estate developers to build more housing.
