On Friday, Governor Walz signed the State Government Finance omnibus bill that included language to create a new Legislative Commission on Housing Affordability. With this, each of the four caucuses will be appointing two representatives to serve on the commission until January 2021.
Speaker Hortman will designate one member of the commission to convene the first meeting by June 15th and a member of the house of representatives will serve as the first chair of the commission with a member of the senate serving as the chair beginning in January 2021.
The duties of the commission are as follows:
- Define housing affordability and study issues relating to housing affordability and the construction, preservation, and rehabilitation of owner-occupied and rental housing, including subsidized housing, existing and future government regulations impacting housing affordability, market forces impacting housing affordability, and access to homeownership.
- Review and provide the legislature with research and analysis of emerging issues affecting housing affordability and homeownership access, including but not limited to construction work force, innovation, building practices, and building material costs.
- Review and provide the legislature with research and analysis of policies to reduce the homeownership equity gap.
- Review and make recommendations on legislative and rulemaking proposals positively impacting personal housing affordability, access to homeownership, and other related barriers to homeownership, especially with regard to first-time homebuyers and economically disadvantaged buyers and renters.
The commission is set to expire June 30, 2023.
Your Housing First Minnesota advocacy team is looking forward to working with the new commission to advance our goal of building safe, energy-efficient durable homes at a price Minnesotans can afford.
Follow @HousingFirstMN for frequent updates from your Housing First Minnesota advocacy team.
