Latest news with #ColoradoAssembly
Forbes
7 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Colorado Legislation Thwarts Use Of AI In Rental Housing
Things are hard enough in the housing world without absurd solutions like banning housing providers from consulting the internet and artificial intelligence when managing their properties. Yes, this is exactly what the Colorado assembly passed with House Bill HB25-1004. The legislation makes it a crime for housing providers to use online platforms to gather information when setting rents. To understand how far this legislation tests what's reasonable, let's have a glass of lemonade. As summer is approaching, you and your friends decide to open a lemonade stand. You spend time costing things out; pricing lemons, sugar, and maybe some interesting adds like salt rims, and herb infusions. But there is one piece of data you don't have. How much are other lemonade stands charging? You wonder, 'Is there an app for that?' It turns out there is, and you check it out. There you can see all the lemonade stands in the city and in your neighborhood. It's a useful piece of information and helps you set the price when you consider your costs. What's nice is that because you're new, you can charge less than your competitor up the street who is charging $3 for a similar product. Because you have a good supplier, you're going to charge $2.65. Then a cop car pulls up. Turns out you've committed a crime by consulting the internet. Here's the bill with lemonade substitutions where appropriate. Read it and see if it makes any sense. The bill prohibits the sale or distribution for consideration of an algorithmic device if: The bill also prohibits the use of an algorithmic device by a person to set or recommend the price of lemonade, number of glasses, or other commercial term associated with the consumption of lemonade if: The bill also prohibits a person engaged in the business of providing algorithmic device services or products that are used to set or recommend the price of lemonade, number of glasses, or other commercial term associated with the consumption of lemonade from using nonpublic competitor data pertaining to lemonade stands in Colorado in algorithmic calculations. A violation is deemed to be an illegal restraint of trade or commerce and is punishable in accordance with the "Colorado State Antitrust Act of 2023". You have customers buying your product and the officer informs you that you need to stop because each time you sell a glass of your cheaper lemonade, you're triggering fines under the anti-trust act that range from $250,000 to $1,000,000 for each glass sold. Ignorance can be a strength, especially when it provokes strategic questions. Why is rent so high? How can we fix that? Answers to that question are obvious. When there is great demand for housing and there are few units, prices will go up. It's that simple. To address high prices, the answer always goes back to how can production be increased as well as variety in housing types and location. This is true of housing and lemonade stands and any other product people want to buy. And when people are setting a price for their product, they always seek out the best data, including consulting with colleagues and using technology, to set their prices. It's how lemonade stands work and any other business. As of this writing, Governor Polis has signed the legislation but is asking for a delay in implementation. And what's true is that rents have gone down in Colorado, dropping, on average in the state's largest city, Denver, from $1,875 to $1,819. Vacancy rates in Denver are up to 7% which is usually the standard vacancy rate factored in to most apartment project pro formas. If that is the average in Denver, it means many apartments have higher vacancy rates. With higher vacancy rates come lower prices. The assembly either doesn't understand how the world works, or doesn't want to know, or worse, doesn't care. It appears that Governor Polis understands that although he signed the bill, it isn't going to make much sense to implement it. In the end, the new law is grandstanding. But it could be worse than that, blinding housing providers from price information that could actually help them lower their prices at a time when competition between landlords to fill vacant apartments would benefit consumers. That's how markets work. And more information is better for everyone whether its housing or lemonade.
CBS News
08-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
From immigration to gun control and transgender rights, Colorado state lawmakers debated long list of controversial issues this session
Colorado 75th General Assembly adjourns after debate on more than 650 bills over 120 days Colorado 75th General Assembly adjourns after debate on more than 650 bills over 120 days Colorado 75th General Assembly adjourns after debate on more than 650 bills over 120 days The 75th General Assembly adjourned Wednesday after debating more than 650 bills over the last 120 days in Colorado. Efforts to close a $1 billion budget shortfall consumed much of the session and a plan to spend $4 million on new furniture for lawmakers became a flashpoint. The furniture budget was ultimately cut in half. Budget writers slashed funding for dozens of programs -- ranging from food banks to workforce development -- while increasing funding for K-12 schools, higher ed and Medicaid. They also found more funding for safety net providers, especially rural health care clinics. With money tight, Democrats floated new fees on auto, homeowners and health insurance. All of them failed, along with Republicans' efforts to repeal the retail delivery and plastic bag fees. But a bill banning hidden or junk fees - including in rental contracts - passed. Lawmakers also passed bills to increase affordable housing, including measures to expedite manufactured housing by creating regional building codes, and incentivize condo development by limiting lawsuits over construction defects. While legislators approved warning labels for gas stoves, they nixed them for gas pumps. And while they killed a bill to require age verification for online porn sites, they passed a measure that criminalizes deep fake porn -- or digitally altering pictures of real people to create fake nudes. Maybe no bill generated more debate than a measure expanding transgender rights. It makes mis-gendering -- or using a name other than a transgender person's chosen name -- a form of discrimination. A measure expanding protections for undocumented immigrants also drew fire. It passed the house the day after the U.S. Department of Justice sued the state over what it called sanctuary policies. A spokesperson for Gov. Jared Polis says Colorado is not a sanctuary state and says the governor's office worked with bill sponsors to ensure their measure doesn't interfere with federal law enforcement partnerships. A scandal at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation prompted the biggest criminal justice bill of the session. It ensures defendants and victims are notified if DNA evidence in their case may have been tampered with. It passed both chambers unanimously. Colorado also now has one of the most restrictive gun bills in the country. It prohibits the sale of most semi-automatic firearms without additional background checks and training. And thanks to a bill offering millions of dollars in tax credits, Boulder will be the new home of the Sundance Film Festival in 2027. The session ended with drama over an artificial intelligence law. The governor, attorney general and even some members of Congress urged lawmakers to delay implementation of the nation's first artificial intelligence law, but an effort to move implementation from January of 2026 to January 2027 failed in the waning hours. Among the final bills to get approval were a measure that regulates rideshare companies and a bill that makes it easier to unionize. Polis has expressed concerns about both bills. He's already vetoed bills regarding social media regulations and open records requests, and lawmakers were unable to override those vetoes.
