Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper gives a 20-minute campaign speech at the Des Moines Register political soapbox at the Iowa State Fair on August 10, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa.
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The just-passed housing bill doesn’t do enough to reduce costs for the United States, and lawmakers at all levels of government need to do more, Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colorado, told CNBC.
Hickenlooper, a former presidential candidate, said he would not run again in 2028, speaking to CNBC on the sidelines of an event in Denver. He highlighted housing and health care as policy areas where consumers could benefit from changing the way governments interact with industry.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event for the Sue Teatro, a Chicano theater company that has been active in Denver for decades, Hickenlooper said areas like affordable housing not only need to limit private equity participation, as the new law does, but also reduce administrative hurdles and give opponents fewer ways to block needed development. He lamented that it was too easy for housing opponents to slow development.
“We’ve given everyone who wants to raise their finger all the tools they need to stop a housing development from going forward. They can sue. They can do this. They have all these processes in place that actually add cost to housing,” Hickenlooper said.
As a one-term senator representing a state that is home to some of the most competitive U.S. House elections, Mr. Hickenlooper offered a prescription for what ails the country. He started his career as a geologist, then started a brewery business in downtown Denver, went on to become mayor of that city, governor of Colorado, and now a senator. He declared his candidacy for president in 2020, but withdrew before the primaries were held.
According to the CNBC National Economic Survey, housing costs are the top concern for voters between the ages of 18 and 34.
Hickenlooper pointed to the Dallas-Fort Worth region as a potential template for streamlining home construction because it has one building code for the entire region.
“If you’re going to include affordable housing in your housing project, we have a super fast zoning/building development setup code here,” he said.
Regarding Mr. Hickenlooper’s problems:
About Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D.N.Y.): “She gets things done” in Congress and is very rational when it comes to problem-solving.
On Immigration and Customs Enforcement: As President Donald Trump focuses on illegal immigration, the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are reverberating in Colorado.
“Depending on where you are in this community, we’re 30 percent Latino here – you can just say ICE, right?” he said, referring to recent deaths at the hands of ICE agents and agents. “People in this community are crazy.”
On health care costs: He noted that costs in this sector have increased significantly every year, and said pricing is opaque and price comparisons are difficult to conduct. He cited a 2019 American Medical Association study that characterized about a quarter of health care spending, or about $1.35 trillion, as wasteful.
“If we can get half that, that means this is the way to get universal health care,” he said. “This is how you actually solve the problem.”
On data centers: He supports data centers in theory and said their proximity indicates activity in the technology sector. But he said he would not support it unless electricity rates are raised, noise pollution is minimal or non-existent, and water consumption concerns are addressed.
Regarding how Democrats can win in the midterm elections, he said, “We must hold President Trump accountable.” “Then choose two or three.”
“A good place to start is with the cost of living. You can make a statement about health care, a statement about housing, a statement about cost of living. And the cost of living takes you to war.” And how that affects prices.
“We estimate that 40 to 50 percent of Colorado residents are struggling at the end of each month,” he said.
As for the Trump factor in this year’s election, he said, “Trump is such a crazy genius that one day he’ll see something in the paper and he’ll exaggerate it and take it out of context and make it into some kind of mantra or crusade.” “But now, when I talk to my friends in the Senate, people in Michigan, people in Iowa, there are a lot of people I know in Iowa who think they have a real chance to win a Senate seat.”
