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April 16, 2019

HOUSE APPROVES BIRD-TITONE BILL TO BOOST AFFORDABLE HOUSING

(Apr. 16) – The House approved Rep. Shannon Bird and Rep. Brianna Titone’s bill today to boost the supply of affordable housing in the state by expanding the Affordable Housing Tax Credit, which helps leverage private funding for affordable housing projects across the state.

“We need to help people access affordable housing and grow the middle class and this bill is a proven and effective method to help,” said Rep. Bird, D-Westminster. “There is such a high demand for these grants across the state, so there is absolutely a need to expand this tax credit to accommodate the high demand.”

The Affordable Housing Tax Credit supports key affordable housing needs such as workforce housing, homeless housing, and senior housing across Colorado and is one of the state’s most effective tools for increasing affordable housing available across the state. Colorado’s Affordable Housing Tax Credit raises private sector equity needed to support the development and preservation of affordable rental housing. It currently is authorized to allocate only $5 million; HB 19-1228 would increase the available tax credits to $10 million in 2020-24.

“We need to help ease the housing crunch. This bill will help seniors and hardworking people across our state,” said Rep. Titone, D-Arvada. “Access to affordable housing can help grow the middle class and our economy which will give back to Colorado in a lot of different ways. This bill has no district boundaries. Affordable housing is needed everywhere across the state.”

Between 2015-2018, the program supported 4,796 affordable rental units. The development of these homes is estimated to have generated over $1.9 billion in economic impact in Colorado.

HB19-1228 passed on a bipartisan vote of 43-20 and now heads to the Senate.

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