By Ryan Gonzalez

Insurance premiums are on the rise. Property taxes are increasing. Groceries are becoming more expensive. Gas prices are reaching record levels. Housing costs are becoming unsustainable. These are the concerns I hear from people in my district. But these issues are becoming more common across the state as people continue to live paycheck to paycheck and wages aren’t keeping up with such costs.

To make matters worse, businesses both big and small alike are either closing down or leaving the state. The state legislature needs to get serious to address these problems.

During my first term in the legislature, I have seen the effects of policies that, though having good intentions, fall flat in the face of reality and economic principles. These policies that pick winners and losers and inadvertently have negative consequences on the people of Colorado must be rescinded.

Many times, stakeholders affected by such policies are never asked or even brought to the table in the decision-making process. Businesses are hurting and are asking for relief from undue burden. The result — taking their business out of Colorado or shutting down.

A prime example of this is the restaurant industry. Ask yourself: how many restaurants in your community have closed down? For most the number is high, but it’s not just restaurants. Small businesses are barely surviving.

Though these businesses are in desperate need of relief as they drown in regulations and unaffordable costs, the Colorado legislature continues to enforce more fees, more regulations and more complex rules. 

In 2020, voters repealed the Gallagher Amendment. This 1982 provision was sealed in the Colorado Constitution in order to limit the amount homeowners paid in property taxes. Residential property taxes were limited to a strict 45% of the state’s total property tax base, while nonresidential sat at 55%.

When the Gallagher Amendment was repealed in 2020, the authority to set individual assessment rates was given to the Colorado legislature, where it now resides. Though the provision wasn’t a perfect formula for property taxes, it did keep residential rates steady.

Once the amendment was repealed, what did the legislature do? They offered no replacement. The result: property taxes skyrocketed and continue to do so.

Not only has this affected homeowners, but tenants are now seeing their rents rise, in part due to increasing property taxes. Groceries continue to cost more, while we are still feeling supply constraints from the pandemic. Cost to do business in Colorado fuels the price increases on the shelves.

An example: transportation fees and regulations. These costs are all passed onto the consumer. The same can be said about insurance premiums from healthcare to home to auto insurance. A direct result of policies rammed through by the state legislature.

Sadly, it is becoming more common to hear from my constituents they can barely afford to live here. Many of them are planning or contemplating an exit from the state altogether. In a time when the state faces budget deficits, this puts us in a difficult place of facing lost revenue in the long run from not only individuals but businesses.

Like my constituents, I too live paycheck to paycheck. Many are struggling and plunging into debt just to get by. It’s not that they don’t know how to spend wisely, it’s that their money isn’t keeping up with costs.

This next session, I implore my colleagues to get serious on delivering for the people of Colorado. I ask my colleagues to join me to help lower the cost of living, so that the people of Colorado can do more than just get by.

Ryan Gonzalez represents Colorado House District 50 and serves on the Business Affairs & Labor and Finance Committee. A second-generation immigrant and a faithful Coloradan, Rep. Gonzalez focuses on lowering the cost of living, decreasing crime, inflation and advocating for civil liberties