City/Town: St. Cloud

Legislative District: Senate District 14

Party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party

Candidate responses in italics.

Q1: Housing plays a critical role in economic stability, health, and quality of life for individuals and families. However, disparities in housing continue to affect communities of color, people with disabilities, rural communities, and other historically underserved populations. What meaningful actions should be taken to acknowledge, address, and eliminate housing inequities and advance housing opportunities for all Minnesotans

All of our neighbors deserve to have safe, reliable housing available to them. 60% of people who live in St. Cloud live in a state of economic distress – one stretch of bad luck away from experiencing homelessness. We start by meeting folks where they are. Not only have I traveled throughout different housing systems to meet with residents, but have hosted events and town halls in these communities to ensure that the systems we have are accountable to those who need them. I have also mediated conversations between renters and landowners to make sure that individuals are being provided what they paid for. Many of these conversations function through a comprehensive tenants’ bill of rights that I championed. These conversations can’t fix all the issues with the housing crisis, but they do provide the foundation for future solutions.

Q2: Supportive housing combines affordable housing with support services that help people who face the most complex challenges to live with stability, autonomy, and dignity. Supportive housing provides better outcomes and is fiscally responsible. What will you do to ensure community members who are unhoused or unstably housed receive the support they need to obtain or keep their own homes?

As a community member and as a legislator, I’ve had the opportunity to work with many supportive housing groups. Frequently, as a neighbor, I’ve been able to volunteer and meet with individuals in these organizations. As a legislator, I worked to pass emergency shelter grants and increase local homelessness prevention aid, specifically targeted at Greater Minnesota. Although there is much more to do, I hope to continue finding creative ways to bring money to our communities and expand aid to those who most need it in our communities.

Q3: Homeownership is a way to build generational wealth, provide family and household stability, and support community vibrancy. More and more Minnesotans are priced out of owning a home because of rising housing costs, including purchase price, homeowners’ insurance, and property taxes. What steps will you take to increase opportunities for renters and first-time homebuyers to purchase homes, condos, or cooperative ownership models?

This past legislative session I worked to pass one of the largest property tax relief and renters assistance programs. The Homestead and Renters Credit Refund provided $125 million in property tax refunds to Minnesotans. This helps lessen the burden of property taxes and keeps money in the pockets of those who need it. Continuing programs like these, and working to create new programs that encourage increasing housing supplies and lowering housing costs, are essential to providing accessible housing now and helping build stability for years to come.

Q4: In the last several years, bipartisan action to streamline building of new homes and apartments has passed in several states, including: allowing for multifamily buildings in select commercial areas, limiting parking requirements, allowing smaller homes on smaller lots, and more homes per lot in residential areas like duplexes, fourplexes, and accessory dwelling units. What reforms do you support to modernize zoning to both enable homes to be more affordable statewide and improve city tax bases?

Greater Minnesota is different in that we have the space to build, but not the resources to do it. While multifamily and smaller lots are incredibly beneficial to housing markets, and essential to some parts of my district, there is also work to encourage new building. I authored the bill to bring $40 million to Greater Minnesota for workforce housing. This creates new rental housing in small to medium-sized communities primarily for lower income families. This allows families to stay in their communities and helps individuals purchase their first homes.

Q5: Despite housing being the largest cost in the average household budget, housing receives only a small fraction of the total state budget at just 0.3%. A lack of ongoing reliable funding for housing in Minnesota’s state budget has resulted in an undersupply of stable homes affordable to our workforce, our elders, and our families. In recent years, a constitutional amendment for housing, which would dedicate revenues from a sales tax increase to housing, has gained momentum at the legislature. What revenue options will you champion to more adequately meet our need for reliable funding for homes we can afford?

The undersupply of houses in our state, and in our community, is an immense issue. Recently, I helped pass the bill that will bring $1 billion for statewide construction of new housing. This new building will increase the supply of homes and help create the systems that make these houses accessible to individuals who need them. We must continue working to fund housing programs like this because as our state and communities grow, we must meet these needs.

Q6: If you have other housing policy priorities, especially specific to your district’s housing needs, please share them here.

As we continue to work to provide accessible, safe housing for all of those in our community there are a few aspects I am specifically interested in working on. First, I plan to continue meeting with individuals and our community as a whole. When we have conversations, we learn more, and only then can we do better. I also would like to increase assistance for first time home buyers and work to regulate private equity to ensure that housing supply remains local and accessible.