City/Town: Hopkins

Legislative District: House District 46B

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

There are many layers to housing supports that we need to invest in including supportive housing, new home buyers, and affordable multi-unit housing from 30%-50% AMI. Investments need to be made at the Federal, State, County, and Local level as not one of them can do it alone. I passed a three year, three city pilot project to allow transfers from excess TIF increment into Affordable Housing Trust Funds so that cities have the money and flexibility to make those investments. It is now time to give municipalities statewide this option and I will be authoring that bill again this coming session.

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?

We need to include our supportive housing providers to utilize the affordable housing tax credit and/or find another stable stream of funding for supportive housing. Supportive housing does have incredible outcomes and I was happy to vote in favor of supportive housing projects when I was on the Hopkins City Council. I have supported these types of projects as a legislator both at the Capitol and in community. For example, when the Hopkins Zoning and Planning Committee was contemplating a Beacon family supportive housing project, I attending their Planning and Zoning meeting to speak in support of the project. Having students stable in housing in order for them to stay in attendance at one school for three years or more improves their chances to graduate. Currently, I am part of a three state cohort of legislators, non-profits, and providers that are doing a deep dive into how to address the issue of student’s experiencing homelessness.

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?

I have supported investments in first time home buyers funds as well as encouraging cities to start and utilize Affordable Housing Trust Fund money to support first time homebuyers. Part of making sure that generational wealth can be built is also by making sure our schools have the resources to meet every student’s needs. Graduating from high school and affordable post-secondary opportunities, directly lead to building generational wealth as well.

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?

I do support many parts of the Homes for All Agenda and their bills that are working thru the legislative process. The bills have undergone some changes and I appreciate the work everyone has put into them. I would need to see final language of the bills in order to say I support all of them, but I am happy with the work that has been done around the zoning one. I do still have some concerns about building housing in commercial areas where there may not be access to transit our walkable sidewalks. I have expressed that to the authors of the bill and I believe they are looking into that.

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?

I have supported investments from the general fund and bonding bills for housing as well as the affordable housing tax credit. I would continue to support those avenues. The State is only one partner in the layers of investment needed and we need to keep on encouraging investment from the Federal, County, and local level as well. As for a constitutional amendment, I would need to think about that further and would be happy to talk with someone about it.

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

I am working on the bill to allow municipalities statewide to transfer excess TIF increment into Affordable Housing Trust Funds and would appreciate any support you are able to give to getting that passed. It got und up in the Senate last session. I also would like to see that bill that prohibited landlords from discriminating against a person because of the types of income they are using to pay rent. That was hung up in the Senate last year as well.