A Shameful Failure: News Miner 56
Legislature kills land-use reform, equal pay for unequal work, migration, guns, and maps.
Land-Use Reform Dead (for Now)
Bad news: CPR’s Andrew Kenney reported:
The land-use bill is officially laid over to some future date. Bill sponsors trying to win over Appropriations, most obviously Sen. [Rachel] Zenzinger. Zenzinger wants all mandatory upzoning removed. Sen. Bridges has also been opposed, as are Republicans.
Zenzinger teamed up with a Republican member of the Anti-Housing-Liberty Alliance (my term), Barbara Kirkmeyer, to promote “local control” over individual liberty.
Zenzinger shamefully called local violations of property rights the “Colorado Way.” To this, Matt Frommer replied:
The current “Colorado Way” has gotten us:
- the 6th most expensive housing
- 6th most polluted metro
- 2nd fastest-gentrifying city & fastest growing homeless pop
- 2nd most natural area lost to sprawl in the West
It’s high time for the “Colorado Way” to evolve.
I replied:
The “Colorado Way” is “My House, My Choice.” Zenzinger’s way is “Your House, My Choice.” Or, more bluntly: “Rich people should be able to use force of government to keep less-wealthy people out of their neighborhoods.”
I added:
This [failure to pass reforms] is outrageous. No Colorado Republican who opposed land-use reforms should ever again claim to support free markets or individual liberty. No Colorado Democrat who opposed them should ever again claim to support the less-well-off. A shameful failure.
Just yesterday, the governor had an op-ed in the Gazette rightly saying we need to “remove government barriers and red tape so that we can build more housing now.” He wrote:
Our businesses can’t continue to grow if the talent they need to hire can’t afford to live in our communities. Our high housing costs are fast becoming a major barrier to competitiveness, and we need to change course to build more housing now and bring down costs.
The Cato Institute reports [see links] that zoning impacts workers by limiting their ability to live in high opportunity areas and can reduce economic growth overall. Senate Bill 213 reduces government overreach and allows homeowners to be part of the solution. This important legislation moving through the General Assembly would reduce the bureaucracy and government obstruction around building new accessory dwelling units, duplexes, and triplexes and create more housing opportunities at a lower cost for every Colorado budget. With this bill, we are taking an important step toward letting the free market address this crisis.
Again, 213 was not a perfect bill from an economic liberty perspective. But Republicans opposed specifically the land-use aspects of the bill. On this issue, Jared Polis was overall genuinely libertarian in perspective, and he was correct on the issues. But Polis being right wasn’t enough when too many legislators sold out to entrenched special interests.
Equal Pay for Unequal Work
The main effect of SB23-105 would be to achieve equal pay for unequal work. The bill practically begs state authorities to harass businesses that pay people different amounts, whatever the reason.
The Gazette rightly points out,
SB-105 would require—not authorize, but “require”—the Department of Labor and Employment to investigate pay inequities and enforce equal pay mandates. So, if an employee talks to a colleague who makes more money—for a limitless number of reasons—a simple phone call kicks in a state investigation. The inquiry can always find gender as a correlation and conflate it with cause.
As I Tweeted:
If I were looking to start or move a major business, I definitely would not pick Colorado. The Dems have proven that they’re just going to relentlessly impose more burdens and higher costs on businesses, with no end in sight.
Quick Takes
Migration: Lang Sias points out that migration into Colorado has been falling in recent years. “Sustained low domestic migration is a threat to state competitiveness,” he writes. Sias also points out that recently imposed regulations related to employment and the environment (including building mandates) are raising costs in the state and hurting the business environment.
Guns: Last time I wondered whether there’s a way for people to voluntarily turn in their guns, say, if they’re suffering from depression. Chris Knoepke writes, “Great question! There are a number of law enforcement agencies and firearm businesses who will store for people who want to do so voluntarily and/or temporarily. There’s even a map!”
Maps: Colorado really has 697 sides, and “the state’s northern borderline is about 22 miles (35 km) shorter than its southern one.”
Image: Colorado National Guard