Colorado Ballot Initiative Would Earmark $300 Million for Affordable Housing

With housing becoming increasingly expensive in Colorado, advocates are pushing a statewide ballot initiative that would earmark $300 million for the build-out of affordable housing.

“The cost of housing has gone up dramatically,” Mike Johnston, president and CEO of Gary Community Ventures, the main financial backer of the “Make Colorado Affordable” initiative, said during an August 4 press conference. “We can’t afford a Colorado where Coloradans can’t afford to live here.”

Johnston, a former state senator and past candidate for Colorado governor and U.S. senator, was joined at the press conference by representatives from Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver and Housing Colorado, in addition to a Denver teacher and a Salida restaurant owner. The group had just dropped off over 220,000…