A bill making its way through the Colorado Legislature would make it a lot harder for landlords and home sellers to discriminate against military veterans.

Cathy Alderman, chief communications and public policy officer at the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, said House Bill 1102 would still allow preferences to be given for new housing construction and vouchers for veterans.

She contended the past few years have made it clear investing in veterans pays off.

"You can reduce it significantly," Alderman asserted. "I think everybody can agree that people who have served this country deserve at the very least basic access to rentals or homeownership opportunities, and probably even some kind of enhanced access."

At least one in 10 people experiencing homelessness has served in the armed forces. Veterans frequently face housing discrimination due to stereotypes, including substance abuse and mental illness.

Alderman said access to housing is critical for struggling veterans to recover. The bill, which would add veterans as a protected group under the Colorado Fair Housing Act, has cleared the House and now moves to the Senate.

A separate measure aims to encourage more investment from the private sector. House Bill 1083 would provide a 25% tax credit for individuals who make donations to nonprofits, including Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, providing housing, shelter and services for people experiencing homelessness in urban areas. The credit would be 30% in rural communities.

"And that's because our rural areas have traditionally had significant barriers to accessing funding, resources," Alderman explained. "They don't have a lot of government land that can be donated for these types of projects. And so we think that the bump to 30% in our rural, distressed areas is appropriate."

Alderman believes the two measures, combined with Gov. Jared Polis' proposal to invest federal relief funds into homelessness resolution are key tools for addressing the state's homeless crisis.

"To making sure that we are getting more people into safe spaces and into housing," Alderman urged. "And that it aligns really nicely with investments in affordable housing coming from the federal government, and investments in a homelessness resolution as proposed by the governor."

Since the Fair Housing Act was established in 1968 to make discrimination in housing illegal, nonprofits around the country have helped investigate cases and counsel victims.

But the Trump administration has cut federal grant funding to many of them, including Montana Fair Housing. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development sent Montana Fair Housing a termination notice for a $425,000 annual grant.

Pam Bean, executive director of Montana Fair Housing, said the grant made up 83% of the organization's funding.

"We had no notice, nothing," Bean explained. "The letter indicated our grant 'no longer met the goals and priorities' of the organization."

The letter, dated Feb. 27, stated the termination is effective immediately and is at the direction of the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk's government cost-slashing program. It comes weeks after HUD laid off hundreds of employees. Many are bracing for further cuts.

Bean pointed out Montana Fair Housing worked on 32 dispute resolutions last year, staving off as many legal complaints.

"Those services are going to be cut back as well," Bean noted. "That probably will lead to the filing of many more complaints."

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is working to change policies and legal definitions regarding sexual orientation and gender identity, a class of people protected by the Fair Housing Act. According to the National Fair Housing Alliance, there were more than 33,000 reported complaints of housing discrimination in the U.S. in 2023.

Coloradans who want to help move the needle on homelessness can still sign up for a lobbying day next Tuesday at the State Capitol.

Cathy Alderman, chief communications and public policy officer with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, expects dozens of people to join this year's effort. Folks will meet up in the morning to hear from a couple of legislators. And they'll get a brief training on how to talk with lawmakers about bills that impact people experiencing homelessness.

"Then we send people out in teams to go find legislators - in their office, sometimes they're debating on the floor, sometimes they're in committee - and we encourage them to support our priorities," she said.

Alderman added this year's legislative priorities include homelessness prevention and resolution, housing availability and access, health care, and economic justice. The group is backing a number of bills, including House Bill 25-1168 which adds protections for victims of gender-based violence in rental housing. Those interested can sign up for the event online at 'ColoradoCoalition.org.'

The coalition is also pressing lawmakers to improve the infrastructure needed to address homelessness across the state. Alderman says House Bill 25-1032 would create a homelessness council, made up of representatives from all state agencies and important stakeholders like local governments and nonprofits, to set a statewide strategy.

"Which we think is really important because it kind of sends a message to the entire community that the state is making this a priority," she explained. "But it needs its local government and nonprofit partners to do the work."

The coalition also supports Senate Bill 25-008, to help people experiencing homelessness and survivors of natural disasters and domestic violence get access to driver's licenses and other vital documents. Alderman said they'll also be tracking any measures related to renter's protections.

"Trying to create that balance between renters and landlords to make sure that folks can stay stably housed. Because we know that it's much more difficult to get housed once you've lost your housing," she added.

A bill making its way through the Maryland General Assembly could protect renters from unjust evictions.

House Bill 709 would create what is known as a "good cause" law. It would enable but not require local governments in Maryland to put eviction laws in place in their communities to prevent landlords from evicting tenants without cause. People could still be evicted for disorderly conduct that disturbs other residents, a major breach of a lease or causing damage to the property.

Erica Puentes, legislative coordinator for the advocacy group Progressive Maryland, said the idea is to help keep Maryland families stable.

"Good cause laws require transparency and accountability from corporate landlords for why they're choosing to evict a tenant," Puentes explained. "'Good cause' would prevent people from being evicted unless the landlord provides a good reason."

A number of city leaders, including the mayors of Baltimore and Takoma Park, have expressed support for a good cause law in the past few years. But some developers and landlords have voiced opposition, saying it would make it more difficult to evict problem tenants.

Corporate landlords file more than 5,000 eviction cases a year without providing a reason, according to the Public Justice Center.

Puentes emphasized all eyes are on the Maryland Senate, where the bill stalled in committee during last year's session. She added the law would give power to local governments to make new tenant laws and policies.

"There is a lot of appetite and need in Maryland for 'good cause,'" Puentes stressed. "Ultimately the counties and municipalities should have the power, and under 'good cause' they would have the power, to enact this legislation, based on the needs of their constituents."

The Public Justice Center reported more than 5,000 Maryland families are made homeless from evictions each year.


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