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Mayor’s office and lobby team preview 2025 legislative session; budget deficit and housing policy highlighted
Summary
City lobby staff and the mayor’s office briefed the Finance and Governance Committee on legislative priorities for 2025, warning of a structural state budget shortfall—cited at roughly $1.4 billion—and highlighting housing, ADU flexibility, childcare (CCAP), transportation financing and other issues the city will track during session.
Representatives from the Mayor’s Office and the city’s lobbying team briefed the Finance and Governance Committee on Jan. 14 about priorities and expected issues in the 2025 Colorado legislative session, including an estimated structural state budget shortfall and a range of housing, transportation and human‑services topics the city intends to track.
Adam Paul and Dominic Moreno, the mayor’s office representatives, and the city lobby team reviewed opening themes at the state level and identified local priorities including accessory dwelling unit (ADU) flexibility, use of CCAP childcare funds, housing affordability measures, building code changes and transportation financing. “Things are moving fast. I think we just found out over 100 bills have been introduced,” Adam Paul said during the briefing.
The presentation outlined a state fiscal picture the team called difficult: speakers cited a roughly $1.4 billion budget shortfall for the state and about $672 million of that in the general fund. The lobby team explained that caseload and Medicaid costs were a major driver of the projected deficit and that legislators will need to consider cuts and budget adjustments.
On housing, staff said the session will likely cover ADU flexibility, construction‑defect legislation, manufactured housing, and bills to broaden sites for affordable housing (sometimes described as allowing some institutional land uses to host housing). The team also said they are tracking potential building‑code legislation that could require municipalities to update codes to meet or exceed certain standards.
Speakers emphasized the city and mayor have overlapping priorities but that councilmembers may take individual positions; Council Member Sedena Gonzalez Gutierrez reminded members that voters in Denver did not support Proposition 130 and that council and the mayor’s office must be clear about where the council as a body stands on state items.
On transportation, staff identified potential bonding and financing proposals, a state treasurer initiative called “Build” for infrastructure financing, and an ongoing legal challenge to rental car fees that were used for transportation revenue. The team said they will provide weekly updates and issue briefings for councilmembers and organize a planned Denver Day at the Capitol for outreach.
Staff committed to circulating committee and supplemental budget materials and to providing individual briefings for councilmembers who request them.
