The 2025 legislative session officially got underway last week and housing policy reform is one of the top priorities for many legislators, serving as one of the very few bipartisan issues likely to be discussed by a closely divided House and Senate.
Yesterday, the House Housing Committee heard testimony from several stakeholders regarding housing affordability and availability in Minnesota.
Mark Foster, vice president of legislative and political affairs for Housing First Minnesota, led the hearing, laying out the dual challenges facing Minnesota’s housing market and the urgency behind modernizing our outdated zoning structure.
“Our industry has been raising supply and affordability concerns for nearly a decade, but the desperately needed policy solutions that have been proposed have yet to be enacted,” said Foster. “We are seriously concerned about the state of the housing market, the state of homeownership and the future of Minnesota. Housing affordability is quickly becoming the issue of our time.”
Foster closed his testimony with an ask from the legislators, “If this committee does one thing this year that would make a substantial difference, it would be to fix the way residential development processes are approved. If far too many instances, we are essentially ‘buying zoning’ and every time that PUDs are involved, the housing gets more expensive.”
Additionally, Housing is one of the leading early issues attracting press attention for the growing, bi-partisan focus on modernizing our housing regulatory framework.
Minnesota Public Radio – Housing Champions Rep. Mike Howard and Rep. Jim Nash discuss how housing will be one of the most bi-partisan issues they legislature tackles this session.
Minnesota Reformer– Madison McVan captures the big picture on housing, “Housing is too expensive. Here’s what the GOP and DFL want to do about it.”
Alexandria Newspapers Echo Press – Sen. Lindsey Port and Rep. Spencer Igo discuss the opportunity to advance housing policy in a bi-partisan fashion.
Watch for more action from your Housing First Minnesota advocacy team as session continues.
