U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper visited the Montbello FreshLo Hub in Denver’s Montbello neighborhood on Thursday morning to meet with community leaders and members who are struggling to afford housing and everyday necessities.
The Montbello FreshLo Hub is a mixed-use development that includes affordable housing, a nonprofit grocery store, mental health services, and a small business incubator.
“People are paying now more for their health care than they pay for their mortgage," Hickenlooper said. "The gasoline cost has gone up 50%, you know, food is going to go up dramatically. All the fertilizer that comes through the Strait of Hormuz, that's all up 40, 50%. I mean, think about farmers."
When asked about how the war with Iran has contributed to affordability issues for Coloradans, Hickenlooper said it’s continuing to drive prices up.
“Even if we reached a peaceful agreement tomorrow, we're still going to see prices increasing, because so many ships were unable to get through the strait for, you know, now it's been over a month, so that has a cost,” Hickenlooper said.
Denver7 asked him about the lack of congressional approval for actions taken against Iran and what senators plan to do moving forward.
“There is specific legislation that passed years ago called the War Powers Act, and we have now, as Democrats, tried to introduce four different bills around the War Powers Act, and we can't get it through the Republicans. I think the Republicans are going to come around and they're going to recognize that this war is costing far more than what immediately meets the eye,” Hickenlooper said. “They're saying it's a billion dollars a day.. And yet suddenly we're told, 'Oh no, we're going to need $200 billion to rebuild our stockpiles.' We don't have that money, so we're going to have to borrow that money. That means interest rates are probably going to go up. The Fed's probably going to raise interest rates. Mortgages are going to go up — still more expenses for working people at the end of the month.”
Hickenlooper said the heightened affordability issues are happening during a time when Coloradans are also experiencing some of the worst drought conditions in decades.
“The lowest amount of snowfall Leadville ever had was 182 inches. That's in 100 years, that's the lowest they ever had. This year, it's 60 inches right? The average was 240 inches. So, I mean, we're in a position now where all the things we took for granted are being turned upside down,” Hickenlooper said.
Hickenlooper said these issues combined equal higher costs for working people.
