St. Paul, MN - Today, House and Senate Housing Committee chairs, legislative leaders, and Minnesotans unveiled “All Roads Lead Back to Home," a visionary plan to solve Minnesota's housing crisis. This roadmap to solve Minnesota’s housing crisis would set the goal of ending youth homelessness, cutting racial disparities in homeownership in half, and building and preserving 150,000 homes to address our severe shortage - all within the next 10 years.
“Every Minnesotan deserves the dream of a safe and affordable place they can call home, yet this dream is unattainable for hundreds of thousands of Minnesota families all across the state,” said Rep. Michael Howard (DFL-Richfield) Chair of the Housing Committee in the Minnesota House. “Without a bold, comprehensive plan to address our housing crisis, the collateral consequences will continue to be felt through achievement gaps in our schools, poorer health outcomes, and families that are struggling to thrive. It’s time to stop admiring the problem and start making bold investments that actually match the scope of the crisis Minnesotans are facing.”
Specifically, the proposal would call for a combined $3 billion investment in three areas: $1 billion to build and preserve homes and through Housing Infrastructure Bonds and General Obligation Bonds for public housing; $1 Billion in one-time investments to address housing challenges across the housing continuum, from preventing homelessness to pathways to homeownership; and $1 Billion in ongoing investments to carry this vision through and build a state where we truly solve our housing crisis.
“Housing is the foundation on which we all build our lives, and without it everything else in a person’s life can fall apart,” said Sen. Lindsey Port (DFL-Burnsville), Chair of the Housing and Homelessness Prevention Committee in the Minnesota Senate. “Right now, we are at a crisis point with too many families lacking access to stable housing, making it impossible for thousands of Minnesotans to reach their full potential. That’s why we are proposing a bold plan to rise to this challenge and help those who need it most.”
To end youth homelessness by 2030, the “All Roads Lead Back to Home” plan would infuse $100 million in emergency rental assistance to help Minnesotans who are currently facing a housing crisis, providing rental assistance and housing support for 40,000 families. Legislation like the “Bring It Home” bill would provide state-based rental assistance to cost-burdened renters, ensuring every low-income family in the state is paying no more than 30% of their income in rent. Other proposals to end youth homelessness would include a renters’ rights bill to better ensure Minnesota families avoid evictions and maintain stable housing, and the Pathway Home Act, which would make making critical investments to ensure that Minnesotans experiencing homelessness have the resources they need so that homelessness is brief, rare, and non-recurring.
In order to build 150,000 homes over the next ten years, the highlights of the roadmap would utilize Housing Infrastructure Bonds, supporting construction of housing at a range of incomes, allocating $750 million to create or preserve 4,600 new homes. $100 million, through proven initiatives like the Minnesota Challenge Program, would create 1,200 new homes. $200 million would preserve 4,000-6,000 homes, $125 million in General Obligation Bonds would modernize 10,000 units, and a $100 million investment in local solutions like Local Housing Aid and Local Housing Trust Funds would create 1,500 homes in the communities that need them.
Lastly, to cut in half the racial disparities in home ownership and increase the number of affordable homes, the proposal would invest $175 million to provide a pathway to first-time home buyers through down-payment assistance, making the dream of homeownership a reality for 5,000 first-generation homeowners. $100 million would also go towards building 1,400 new homes through the Workforce Ownership Program and innovative new initiatives designed to create pathways to affordable home ownership. Manufactured homes, Minnesota’s largest source of home ownership, would see a $50 million investment in production and preservation, impacting 3,800 homes per year.
Video of today’s press conference can be found on the House Public Information YouTube page.
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