What do you call doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results? Einstein called it insanity. In Colorado we call it affordable housing policy.

Imagine trying to buy your first home in today’s market. For too many, it’s almost impossible. The cost of housing is increasingly out of reach, not just for young families, but for everyone. This puts our workforce, our economy, and our way of life in jeopardy.

A recent study by the Common Sense Institute finds the cost of an average starter home has increased 83% since 2015. According to the latest Denver Metro Association of Realtors (DMAR) Market Trends report, the median closing price for a detached home in the Denver metro area is $660,000. Is that just a Denver phenomenon? No, the median list price of homes in Loveland, my district, is $536,000 – a 30% increase from last year.

It’s well past time to do something different and make home ownership a reality for everyone. Instead of relieving new fees and taxes that make housing more affordable, this legislature is debating new regulations that will add significant costs to home construction. This is where insanity comes into play.

Are we working to remove barriers to homeownership? Unfortunately, no. We’re contemplating bills that will add rules and regulations, enforced by un-elected bureaucrats that will continue to drive home prices out of sight.

Consider HB22-1362, Building Greenhouse Gas Emissions, a bill that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by mandating statewide building codes for all types of construction. The bill requires a network of new regulatory hurdles written by untrained bureaucrats who have never built a home.

While we are all invested in clean air, the bill really just increases the outrageously high cost of buying a home in Colorado raising the upfront capital costs and making housing more difficult to develop and less attainable.  

Of course we all want to curb greenhouse gas emissions and improve our air quality. But, Colorado alone cannot fix global warming while poor air quality is also impacted by the environmental struggles of our western neighbors and countries across the world.

According to the World Resources Institute, using 2018 data from Climate Watch, Colorado greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 0.01% between 2005 and 2018, while Colorado’s population has increased by 22%, and commercial/industrial building space has increased by 39% during the same time period.

In other words, we are already taking responsible steps to mitigate the impact of our emissions as we address an expanding population.

HB22-1362 leaves far too many variables to chance under a nebulous rule making process. That doesn’t help Colorado families and it doesn’t make housing more affordable, especially during a time of record high inflation and a skyrocketing cost of living.

We should develop a data-driven policy that allows us to strike a reasonable and sustainable balance between affordability and responsible climate policy.

Hugh McKean, R-Loveland, is the Republican leader in the Colorado House of Representatives.