Yesterday the Minnesota Senate approved the Senate’s Housing and Homelessness Prevention budget proposal. The package spends nearly $180 million over the next two years on various housing programs, in an effort to make housing more affordable and attainable for families across the state.

“Though I wish this bill would’ve gone a bit further in creating pathways to homeownership, this is one piece of legislation that represents the good work we can get done when we work together in a bipartisan way on behalf of all Minnesotans,” said Senator Karin Housley (R-Stillwater), who serves a member on the Senate Housing Committee.

Key provisions of the bill include:

• A new task force on homeowners’ insurance prices, which will study why insurance costs are rising so fast for residential properties
• Funding for a wide range of existing housing programs, such as $7 million for workforce housing programs, $2 million for manufactured home park upgrade assistance, and $10.6 million for rental assistance for people with mental illness
• Reporting requirement for the Housing Finance Agency (MHFA) to provide to the legislature regarding the financial stability of the affordable housing industry
• Codifying down payment assistance for first generation homebuyers

Republicans offered multiple amendments to strengthen the bill, one of which would eliminate a filing fee that homeowners currently pay to remove outdated and discriminatory restrictive covenants from their property deeds. This was amended onto the bill on a bipartisan voice vote.

“As we move forward with future Housing legislation, I’d like to see us prioritizing things that make the dream of homeownership affordable and accessible to more Minnesotans. We’ve already done a lot of good work towards expanding affordable housing, now we need to focus on increasing home options, keeping prices affordable, updating building codes, and putting Minnesotans first,” finished Housley.