City/Town: Roseville

Legislative District: Senate District 40

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

We have a housing crisis; there are disparities in the impacts, but it is a huge statewide problem. Minnesota needs to sustain and expand our housing stock, in everything from single family homes to manufactured home parks. There are many underserved communities that deserve special attention, and some, such as people with disabilities, require changes in policy to address. But to address these disparities, we need to address the broader statewide problem as well.

In 2023 the state put a significant one-time investment into housing, far more than past years, but far short of the need, and it was only one-time funding. We must invest more in housing, adopt policies that enable construction of more housing to meet community needs, and stop private equity from buying up housing. In addition, we need to create a fair economy so that all people have sufficient income to afford housing and other necessities. In each of these actions Minnesota must be mindful of the additional challenges facing underserved communities and ensure that our programs help reduce those disparities.

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 focus on “housing first” policies, because it is far easier to address human services challenges for a person who is unhoused. As the question suggests, it is cheaper to house people and offer support services then, instead of leaving them unhoused. Unfortunately, federal budget cuts are making the situation worse. In addition to fighting federal cuts, Minnesota must do whatever we can to fund supportive housing services. Housing people costs money, but homelessness ends up costing society far more.

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?

We must be creative in finding ways to help people become homeowners so they can build this generational wealth. First time homeowner programs and cooperative housing projects can help, but there are many other things that we can do including addressing property tax and zoning issues.

Property taxes are among the most unfair and regressive taxes, yet Minnesota has been relying more heavily on them in recent years. We need a fair tax code, with the state paying more of the costs so that local governments can reduce property taxes.

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?

The suggestions you make in the question are reasonable steps forward. We should work with local communities to implement such changes. Also, we should push forward with land value taxing as an option for communities so that speculators lose their incentive to hold on to blighted properties when those properties could be developed for housing.

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?

Sales taxes are a regressive form of taxation, and I have concerns that in addressing this one budget need we are making our tax code worse for people struggling to make ends meet. However, I applaud the proponents of the proposal because they recognize the crisis that we face, and the need for a big increase in ongoing funding for housing. We need bold action!

Instead of a sales tax increase, we should focus on income tax increases on higher incomes, increased taxes on corporate profits, closing tax loopholes, and ending corporate subsidies. All these sources of revenue can help Minnesota address the Housing crisis, and do so without increasing costs for people struggling to pay for housing.

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

My district has many housing challenges, like communities across the state. If we address the state-wide challenges, we will be meeting the needs of people in my district as well. I will continue pushing for better housing policies and more funding to address the housing crisis.