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impacts neighboring communities,” Hamrick wrote.

Rent control has come up several times at the state legislature

Mabrey, who helped found an organization to help tenants fight in and then trying to keep the 60-somethings in is really important across the spectrum,” Garner said. “ e more workers, the better.” e Democrat hasn’t heard any pushback for her Job Application Fairness bill, which has no Republican sponsors. Tony Gagliardi, eviction, said he’d already heard from elected officials in large cities on the Front Range and beyond who want to implement rent control.

Danielson has worked to pass several laws promoting equity for women, people of color and a more diverse workforce. She was a prime sponsor for the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, to narrow the gender wage gap. It went into e ect in 2021 and required job postings open to Coloradans to list actual wages. Colorado’s law inspired similar pay-transparency laws in other states. Removing any request for age, birth date or high school graduation date in a job application is just another step forward.

“People are reluctant to hire older workers even though they’re some of the most valuable members of the workforce, as they have the most experience,” Danielson added.

Rent control has come up several times at the legislature in recent years. In 2019, state Sen. Rodriguez was a co-sponsor of a similar measure to allow local rent control and stabilization. That bill did not state director of small-business advocacy group NFIB Colorado, is still researching the bill but questioned whether it was necessary.

“My members still are desperately looking for employees and they’re going to do everything they can to hire a worker,” he said.

While it’s legal to ask job applicants their age, Heather TinsleyFix, AARP’s senior advisor for employer engagement, called it risky “because it opens the employer up to the possibility of appearing to make decisions on the basis of age and to be vulnerable to age discrimination lawsuits.” make it out of the Senate, though Democrats already controlled both chambers.

AARP Colorado supports the bill.

A similar bill in Connecticut had bipartisan support and passed unanimously in 2021 to block employers from asking prospective employees about birth dates and graduation dates. Four other states — California, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — also have laws that ban age questions during the hiring process, according to AARP.

This year, Democrats have larger majorities in both the Senate and House, and Mabrey argued that rising prices will put more pressure on politicians to act.

In 2021, lawmakers moved to give cities limited power over rent prices, although only in new e proposed Colorado law would just close a loophole, said Andrea Kuwik, senior policy analyst with Bell Policy Center, an organization that advocates to improve the economic conditions for Coloradans. Bell Policy worked with Danielson on the bill. e other lead sponsors of the legislation are Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, a Boulder County Democrat, and Democratic Reps. Jenny Willford of Northglenn and Mary Young of Greeley.

“ is is not about creating a new protected category,” Kuwik said. “We’re just trying to close a loophole and I think that’s one of the things that helped make it bipartisan.” is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun. com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media. construction. A law passed that year authorizes cities to require designated affordable units in new builds, as long as they offer other options to developers too.

This story is from CPR News, a nonprofit news source. Used by permission. For more, and to support Colorado Public Radio, visit cpr. org.