Colorado Gov. Jared Polis Criticizes Tariffs on Construction Supplies at HLS Talk

Colorado Gov. Jared S. Polis criticized the Trump administration’s tariffs on construction materials at a Harvard Law School event on Monday, arguing that they drove up construction costs and worsened a housing affordability crisis in his state.

The event, hosted by the HLS Democrats and moderated by Law School Professor Nikolas Bowie, charted Polis’s move from the private sector into public service, including a decade in Congress before his election as Colorado governor in 2018.

During the talk, Polis — a Democrat with libertarian sympathies — said housing prices could easily come down if barriers to construction were removed, encouraging movement of labor, and promoting free trade.

“Get rid of tariffs — and import the lowest cost materials from Canada, where they grow a lot of wood and from other places, and build houses,” Polis said, adding that Trump is doing the opposite.

Polis explained that his government is working to increase the housing supply by allowing owners to build accessory dwelling units and limiting the power of homeowners’ associations.

He also explained his approach to taxes, saying he preferred to tax items that are bad for society. He gave the example of passing a tax on pollution instead of taxing income. He explained that he supports shifting the tax base towards “things we want to discourage” and away from “things that are good.”

The discussion highlighted tensions between state funding needs and federal cost-cutting priorities. Polis said cuts to federal funding have been felt across Colorado.

“I mean, whatever you read about it, it’s like 10 times more chaotic every day,” Polis said.

He said the governor’s office now has a unit dedicated to “minimize the money being taken away from Colorado,” which had been focused on maximizing federal dollars to the state under the Biden administration.

Polis also discussed the state’s more than 30 ongoing lawsuits over federal funds. Colorado is a joint plaintiff on lawsuits over funding for public safety and disease prevention, infrastructure and wildfire prevention, and mental health resources.

He emphasized that, despite these funding challenges, the state will continue to provide essential services.

“We still have schools and prisoners and all that other stuff you do with states, and most of that is state funded,” Polis said.

He argued that Colorado, unlike the federal government, is constrained by its need to balance a budget.

“The federal government not only doesn’t balance the budget, doesn’t have to balance the budget, but never balances the budget,” Polis said. “Debt is getting worse and worse.”

“People want housing they can afford,” he added. “They really don’t care whether it’s the federal, the state. They don’t care.”

—Staff writer Sidhi Dhanda can be reached at sidhi.dhanda@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @sidhidhanda.

—Staff writer Caroline G. Hennigan can be reached at caroline.hennigan@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @cghennigan.