Saving People Money on Housing, Expanding Behavioral Healthcare Access BILL SIGNING TOUR - DAY 2 Yesterday I signed legislation in Greeley, Fort Collins, and Boulder to expand access to affordable housing and provide real relief for Coloradans seeking behavioral health services. The new laws will save Coloradans money on housing and critical behavioral health support, while cutting red tape to ensure Coloradans continue to receive high-quality, efficient services. Our strong economy grows even stronger when hardworking Coloradans have access to affordable housing close to where they work, and our transformative investments in behavioral health and the behavioral health workforce ensure that all Coloradans have the support they need to thrive. SAVING PEOPLE MONEY ON HOUSING MAKING COMMUNITIES MORE AFFORDABLE I visited Fort Collins to sign legislation into law to save Coloradans money on housing by expanding access to and making housing more affordable. SB22-160 creates more resident owned communities and protects naturally occurring affordable housing. This funding will help residents purchase their park and build equity in their homes. The bipartisan bill HB22-1242 includes tiny homes in the regulation of manufacturers, sellers, and installers of manufactured homes. This will help to ensure that all tiny homes that are intended to be permanent private residence are built with the proper life, health, safety and energy codes. These new laws preserve and protect housing affordability and expand access to affordable housing in Colorado. INNOVATIVE HOUSING SOLUTIONS In Boulder, I signed HB22-1082, a bipartisan bill to establish a fair housing unit to support and protect Coloradans seeking housing opportunities across the state. The Colorado way of life is dependent on access to a safe and affordable place to call home. We know the pandemic resulted in significant consumer abuses, and this legislation is intended to further protect Coloradans by creating a Fair Housing Unit in the Department of Law to protect and defend fair housing practices. EXPANDING BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE ACCESS SAVING MONEY FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS In Greeley, I signed bipartisan bills HB22-1299 and SB22-147 to save mental health professionals money on licensing fees, and provide critical behavioral health services for Colorado’s kids. Saving people money and supporting our behavioral and mental health workforce are two important goals of mine, and HB22-1299 does both of those things. Mental and behavioral health professionals are going above and beyond to meet the demands of people in need of care, and if we want to field a workforce strong enough to help address this crisis and sustain long and fulfilling careers, then fee relief like this is critical. SUPPORTING COLORADO KIDS SB22-147 takes an important step towards ensuring that we can meet kids where they are by providing expert support to community providers, by establishing a matching grants program for schools, and by expanding school based health centers. This bipartisan legislation will increase access to much-needed behavioral health care to ensure all Coloradans have the support they need to thrive. WHAT THE COMMUNITY IS SAYING “I’ve lived at Parklane for 5 years and we are happy that SB22-160 [was] signed here because we believe in the opportunity for residents of mobile home parks to own their neighborhoods. We lived through the process of buying a Mobile Home Park, and we are very grateful to all the groups that are supporting us in this great achievement. We believe in preserving mobile home parks, maintaining a fair rent, and more than ever we hope that the people who live in the mobile home park have the power to maintain and improve the community,” said Sabrina Montoya, Parklane Mobile Home Park Resident. “This law is a legacy to new generations to fight in their mobile home park purchase process like we did at Parklane. We want our story to inspire other mobile home park residents to buy, preserve, and improve their community, and we know this law is going to help people a lot.” “The Neighborhood Development Collaborative (NDC) thanks HB22-1082’s sponsors and Governor Polis for turning this bill into law. Housing discrimination strengthens historic segregation patterns and widens our State’s wealth and housing stability gaps. Codifying the Attorney General’s ability to root out housing discrimination brings Colorado closer to creating a level playing field for all,” said Jonathan Cappelli, Executive Director of Neighborhood Development Collaborative. “SB22-147 supports School-Based Health Centers to provide critical integrated behavioral health services that are imperative in addressing the current mental health crisis affecting our children and youth across Colorado,” said Ashley Coram, MPH, CHES, School-Based Health Clinics Program Manager at Every Child Pediatrics. FOLLOW ALONG FOR THE BILL SIGNING TOUR! May 12th began the 30-day clock for all of the bills passed this session to make their way across my desk. I will be traveling to every corner of our state during the bill signing tour to celebrate the incredible work we have done this legislative session. 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