Bennet and Weiser Sell Housing Control, Not Affordability

Colorado Newsline just put U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Attorney General Phil Weiser in the same room, handed them a microphone, and asked them to explain how they would make housing “affordable” if they become Colorado’s next governor. Author Chase Woodruff frames it as two leading Democrats who agree we need more housing supply and faster construction, but who keep jabbing each other over who has the better plan and the better résumé.

The piece runs through their forum appearance at the Denver Athletic Club with YIMBY Denver and Greater Denver Transit, where Weiser pitches a “chief housing officer” to push state and local governments into alignment, while Bennet rejects “more bureaucracy” and says he would personally act as “housing czar.” It also lays out the broader context: Colorado’s affordability crunch, a six-figure housing-unit shortfall estimate, and the ongoing tug of war between state lawmakers and local governments over land use rules.

The Bullet Point Brief

• Bennet and Weiser both say “streamline” and “build more,” which is like two guys agreeing the fire is hot while arguing who gets to hold the hose.
• Weiser’s answer is, essentially, “I will appoint a new top housing person,” because nothing screams “efficiency” like adding a new layer of government to fix a government-caused mess.
• Bennet counters by saying he will not add bureaucracy, then immediately brands himself the “housing czar,” which is not exactly the slogan of a guy who fears centralized control.
• The article highlights the state’s recent approach: statewide mandates like ADUs, higher density near transit, and parking rule changes, plus the not-small detail that some cities are suing the state over it. Translation: Denver wants control, locals want to be left alone, and everybody wants someone else to take the blame.
• On renter issues, they both say they would ban algorithmic rent-setting. Bennet says you cannot “sue your way” to affordability, while Weiser leans into enforcement and lawsuits. That little exchange is the tell: one wants more programs and financing, the other wants more policing, and neither one starts with the obvious cost drivers that strangle new construction.

My Bottom Line

The audacity of these two is watching them talk about “affordability” like it is some magic trick government can perform with the right title, the right office, and the right slogan. When it comes to making housing more affordable, government is not the solution, government is the problem.

Building codes jack up prices. Process jacks up prices. Permitting delays cost real money. Endless studies cost real money. “Compliance” costs real money. Every time the state or a city decides it needs to “do something,” the builder pays, the buyer pays, and the renter pays. Then politicians act shocked when the bill shows up.

And here is the part nobody wants to say out loud at a fancy Denver forum: you cannot regulate your way to cheap. You cannot bureaucracy your way to abundant. You want more starter homes? Stop making it an Olympic event to build a starter home. Cut red tape like it is on sale. Make timelines predictable. Get out of the way and let the market build what working families can actually afford, not what a rulebook forces developers to “include” to satisfy the latest policy mood swing.

Different clowns, same circus. One wants a new “chief,” the other wants to be the “czar.” Colorado does not need another housing throne. It needs government to stop stacking costs on every front-end decision, then pretending the back-end pain is a mystery.

Source: Colorado Newsline