Lucero: Housing bill lacks reforms targeting root causes of high cost of housing

The Minnesota Senate today approved the Senate’s proposal for a Housing and Homelessness Prevention budget (Senate File 2298). The package spends nearly $180 million over the next two years on various housing programs.

“This is not the bill I would have written as the bill lacks necessary reforms targeting the root causes driving the high cost of housing and lacks emphasis prioritizing pathways to homeownership,” Senator Eric Lucero (R-St. Michael), the Republican lead on the Housing Committee, said. “The bill does limit government overreach that we have seen from Democrats in the past and it funds some helpful programs. Unfortunately, an amendment was added to the bill at the last minute that moves Minnesota further down the road toward rent control. Rent control does not work, has never worked, and moving Minnesota in that direction is a dangerous policy. The original bill demonstrated we can still get things done in an evenly divided legislature when we focus on working for Minnesotans vs. adding more burdensome and expensive mandates.”

Key provisions of the bill include:

• A new task force on homeowners’ insurance prices: The bill creates a task force to study why insurance costs are rising so fast for residential properties. The task force will also review government regulations that may be driving up costs or reducing access to housing. The group will report back to the Legislature next year with ideas for reform.
• Funding for a wide range of existing housing programs
  • $7 million for workforce housing programs, including in Greater Minnesota
  • $2 million for manufactured home park upgrade assistance
  • $36.1 million for homeless prevention assistance
  • $10.6 million for rental assistance for people with mental illness
  • $13 million in assistance for repairs to older homes and apartments
  • $2.7 million for nonprofit housing counselors and financial education
• Reporting requirement for the Housing Finance Agency (MHFA): The bill requires the MHFA to report to the legislature annually about the financial stability of the affordable housing industry.

Republicans offered an amendment to eliminate a filing fee that homeowners currently pay to remove outdated and discriminatory restrictive covenants from their property deeds. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.