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Tag: Cost of Living

Socialist Surge Raises Alarm Among Denver Business Leaders
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Fox News, Approved, State

Socialist Surge Raises Alarm Among Denver Business Leaders

By Kristine Parks, Julia Bonavita and Nikolas Lanum | Fox News Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce President JJ Ament worries more regulations will hurt small businesses. Affordability was a top concern among voters who helped launch democratic socialist congressional candidate Melat Kiros to victory in Denver's Democratic primary in June over 15-term incumbent Diana DeGette.  But as democratic socialists gain momentum in Colorado, business owners are grappling with how their progressive policies may collide with the actual costs of running a business in Denver. "With DSA specifically, I think that, too many times, the rhetoric sounds great until it meets the economic realities," J.J. Ament, president and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber o...
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Xcel Electric Bills Rise Again as Colorado Regulators Approve $157 Million Increase
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Xcel Electric Bills Rise Again as Colorado Regulators Approve $157 Million Increase

By Mark Jaffe | The Colorado Sun The state Public Utilities Commission cut Xcel Energy’s original rate hike request but the utility could ask for a rehearing. Xcel Energy received approval from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday for a $157 million electricity rate increase that will raise the average residential bill by about $5 a month. The average residential bill for 601 kilowatt hours will rise to $109.92 a month from $104.91. When Xcel Energy originally filed the rate request in 2025 it said the average monthly bill was about $100. The average bill for small commercial customers will rise a little less than 5% to $164.37 a month for 1,041 kilowatt-hours. The parties to the rate case, including Xcel Energy, the state Office o...
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Why deportations are only part of the affordability answer
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TownHall.com, Approved, Commentary, National

Why deportations are only part of the affordability answer

By Dmitri Bolt | Commentary, Townhall AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued on Thursday that mass deportations are already improving Americans’ economic circumstances. He pointed to a tightening labor market, rising wages for working-class Americans following the departure of more than one million illegal immigrants from the workforce, and reduced pressure on rents as fewer illegal immigrants compete for jobs and housing. However, it is important to remember that these problems existed long before illegal immigration reached its current scale, and they will remain long after, if we do not strike at the root of the affordability issue. "Things are getting better. We're seeing construction jobs picking up. We're seeing manufactu...
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Did illegal immigration drive up housing prices? A cautious yes with caveats
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, National

Did illegal immigration drive up housing prices? A cautious yes with caveats

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Does an influx of immigrants (illegal or otherwise) drive up house prices? The answer to that question, as with many things in life, is complicated. A guarded, and cautious “yes” with plenty of caveats would be how I’d characterize it; if you introduce millions of people into a place, how can their presence not up demand? This is all the more so for a commodity like housing which has much higher connections to regulation and government than, say, cellphones. Simply looking at the spike in immigration post-COVID ought to convince any reasonable person that demand for housing would increase. See screenshot 1 (from the first link below) for a time series graph. In order to look into this question myself, I di...
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Denver Minimum Wage Increase Raises Questions Over Prices, Jobs, and Affordability
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

Denver Minimum Wage Increase Raises Questions Over Prices, Jobs, and Affordability

By Sophia Villalba | Denver7 DENVER — Denver's minimum wage will rise to $19.84 an hour on Jan. 1, renewing debate over how higher labor costs affect workers and businesses. Some say the increase is necessary, while others say the higher wages could impact business operations. Every business owner implements cost-cutting methods however they can. At Elemental Bakery and Coffeehouse, owner Cindy Wright chooses to take on more work herself to save some money. “Instead of hiring a dish person, we all do the dishes. We're not looking to raise prices or anything right now,” Elemental Bakery & Coffeehouse owner Cindy Wright said. Spending is top of mind, especially with another minimum wage increase on the horizon. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT DENVE...
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Colorado Homeownership Slips Further Out of Reach as Prices Outpace Incomes
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The Coloradoan, Approved, State

Colorado Homeownership Slips Further Out of Reach as Prices Outpace Incomes

By Nate Trela | The Coloradoan A new study on homeownership shows just how unaffordable buying a home is across the country, including two Colorado metro areas where homebuying is out of reach for most of their residents even if mortgage rates were set to 0%. The report using data .from Ziffy.ai, an AI-powered real estate investment platform, included the Boulder and Grand Junction areas among dozens of examples of markets where more than half of the homes are unaffordable for most households, even if mortgages did not require paying interest. The analysis defines affordability as when the total monthly housing costs — principal, interest, taxes and insurance — are no more than 30% of the median household income in a market. It based the mortgage calculations...
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Colorado Economy Holds Ground as Inflation and Labor Shortages Raise Concerns
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Economy Holds Ground as Inflation and Labor Shortages Raise Concerns

By Bernadette Berdychowski | The Denver Gazette Inflation is up again, job growth is slowing and geopolitical turmoil has added the effects of high oil prices to the state’s economy. Yet, despite those issues, Colorado’s economy continues to expand, according to a report from the University of Colorado Boulder released Tuesday. The state added 28,600 jobs in June, up 1% year-over-year, the report said. Twelve industries in Colorado saw job losses and eight saw gains, with the most job growth consistently in the healthcare and social assistance sector. Colorado’s economy in 2025 was largely defined by a period of uncertainty spurred by a slew of federal policy changes — from tariffs to federal worker layoffs — after President Donald Trump took office for his seco...
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Colorado Customers Push Back as Xcel Seeks Another Rate Increase
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Colorado Customers Push Back as Xcel Seeks Another Rate Increase

By Allie Jennerjahn | Denver7 Denver7's Jefferson County reporter Allie Jennerjahn has more on Xcel Energy's proposed rate increase to $166 million, which customers say is making their bills already unmanageable. DENVER — Colorado residents are pushing back on Xcel Energy's latest request for a rate increase, with some telling Denver7 their electric bills are already stretching household budgets to the breaking point — especially during a stretch of intense summer heat. Xcel Energy proposed a $225 million rate increase that would have raised customers' monthly electric bills by about 6%. Last week, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) reduced that request to closer to $185 million. "A technical conference where Xcel will calculate the impact of the Commission...
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Government intervention comes at a price
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Government intervention comes at a price

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project I came across the chart mentioned in the first link below during my wanderings about the internet. The link is to a blog post put out by HumanProgress.org, an offshoot of the Cato Institute a Libertarian think tank.I want to call your attention mainly to the graph embedded in the blog post. This is attached as screenshot 1. To help you orient yourself, this is a graph of the rise (or fall) in prices for a variety of goods and services in a time series from the year 2000 on. The scale is given as a percent increase (positive numbers), or decrease (negative numbers).It makes sense that prices change over time (how many of us had grandparents who quoted the price of a chocolate bar, how many of us will ...
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Colorado SNAP Error Rate Could Leave Taxpayers Paying Millions More
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado SNAP Error Rate Could Leave Taxpayers Paying Millions More

By: Logan McCahill | Complete Colorado For the first time since the Great Recession, 1 in 10 Coloradans are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), more commonly known as food stamps. The federally subsidized program provides families below a government-established income level with food benefits to help with grocery bills. Starting in October of 2027, Colorado will begin paying a share of these benefits due to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The amount taxpayers will owe depends on how many people participate in SNAP and how accurately the state processes them, both of which are growing issues for Colorado.   Rising enrollment Between 2020 and 2025, SNAP enrollment grew more than six times faster than Col...
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