The Minnesota Legislature gaveled into session on Monday and the discussions surrounding housing policy are already ramping up. On Wednesday, the Housing Finance and Policy Committee in the House held its first hearing of the session which featured a lineup of housing policy experts and industry advocates.
The committee chair, Rep. Mike Howard, kicked off the meeting by reflecting on the action taken by the committee during the previous session and calling on the committee to continue this work into the new session.
“We know there are fundamental challenges to our housing ecosystem here in Minnesota,” Rep. Howard commented. “We can approve a billion dollars in housing… but it is not going to be fully maximized unless we address some of the underlying barriers that are preventing access to an affordable home.”
The slate of speakers for this hearing began with a presentation from Commissioner Jennifer Ho of MN Housing. Commissioner Ho gave the committee an update on the implementation of last year’s housing investment.
Then, Anne Mavity from Minnesota Housing Partnership provided a survey of Minnesota’s housing landscape.
Finally, the members of the committee heard from Paul Eger of the Minnesota Realtors and Mark Foster from Housing First Minnesota who provided a comparative analysis of the housing market, including existing and new construction.
Both noted that homes in Minnesota were becoming increasingly less affordable across the state. In his concluding statements, During the committee meeting, Foster proposed a viable solution to address the growing issue of limited homeownership opportunities in Minnesota. The proposed solution involves the removal of exclusionary roadblocks such as zoning requirements. This initiative aims to broaden access to homeownership, enabling more Minnesotans to achieve their dream of owning a home.
“For the sake of the next generation of homebuyers, we need to remove exclusionary roadblocks, and we need your help doing it,” Foster urged.
