City/Town: Burnsville

Legislative District: Senate District 55

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

In the next biennium the legislature needs to fund and bring back the first-generation home buyers program, a critical new tool to support first-generation home buyers who are disproportionately BIPOC. I also believe the legislature should take steps to further tighten restrictions on private equity from buying single family homes to convert into rentals. Continuing to support and fund Homeownership Education, Counseling and Training program which has been an important resource for rural Minnesotan communities, and helps bridge the knowledge gap to allow more historically disadvantaged, and under-invested communities become homeowners.

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?

This is the top issue for the legislature to address this coming session, in part because of the Federal uncertainty surrounding this program. This program is incredibly important, and the state cannot allow these housing providers to go under without Federal or State funding, philanthropy will never be able to meet the need. Regardless of what the current Administration decides to do, Minnesota needs to ensure stability for these providers, and make sure this critical resource, and funding for it remains durable.

Currently a lot of these providers struggle to secure on-going funding to provide the critical services that make them successful, which can be a pre-condition to secure construction funds from Governments. The legislature needs to do better at tying physical investments in new or current supportive housing providers, with operation funds, especially to ensure they have the capacity to comply with state and Federal requirements given on-going uncertainty with the current Administration.

Working towards a long-term funding solution to continue these services in perpetuity.

The Housing committee helps to fund a lot of construction currently, but does not provide the funding for those critical support services that make Supportive Housing a successful tool. Finding ways to tie construction programs together with on-going support and operation funds to ensure providers have staff, and capacity to comply with Federal requirements, especially important during this period of uncertainty.

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 believe that reducing the cost of building in Minnesota is a critical part of this, and increasing the number of units produced, through zoning reform, curbing aesthetic mandates, and ending other arbitrary local requirements to build. I may also be interested in exploring an augmented, and re-funded first-generation homebuyer assistance program, with a new first-time homebuyer assistance program.

The cost of insurance is out of control, and ultimately we need to acknowledge that we are in a climate crisis and adjust our behavior and economy to deal with that reality. Transitioning to a clean energy and reducing carbon emissions, increasing energy efficiency, and safeguarding our communities from the worst impacts of a changing climate is critical to stabilize risk in the insurance pool, but reform in property insurance is also necessary.

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 am proud to be the author of the ‘Yes to Starter Homes Act’ in the Senate, which will reform our zoning laws and allow increased density, speed up approval of new builds, end aesthetic mandates, and eliminate minimum parking requirements, statewide, among other reforms. I look forward to continuing working on this bill with stakeholders until we can get it across the finish line, to reduce production costs, and increase total housing supply.

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 am very supportive of the Our Future Starts at Home Act and would like to see a constitutional amendment to dedicate revenue for housing. I am a strong believer that our tax code needs to be reformed so that the ultra wealthy and vast corporations in our State are paying their fair share, because I recognize that across-the-board sales taxes are regressive, with the poor paying the same share, as the ultra rich. I am supportive of other creative ideas to generate durable revenue sources for critical government functions like housing. One such idea is to create a new tax on high value vacation homes, Airbnb style homes, corporate owned homes.

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

This passed legislative session advocates from manufactured home communities across the state met with me, and testified in the Housing Committee pushing for a Manufactured Housing Bill of Rights to protect these unique naturally occurring affordable housing communities from predatory landlords, poor management practices, neglect and maximizing profits at all costs. I would also like the state to take an active role in helping establish new cooperative community-owned models for these unique neighborhoods.

In addition to zoning reforms, I think that encouraging transit-oriented development is really important. Especially in the urban core, and first ring suburbs, many Minnesotans rely solely on public transportation. With the deployment of new arterial BRT routes, and the greenline extension about to come online, there is huge potential for urban renewal, new density, and reduced car pollution.

I have done quite a bit of work on weatherization, and the deployment of green tech for homeowners to increase energy efficiency and ultimately reduce on-going utility costs. The deployment of consumer-solar, heat-pumps and new weatherization technology will be an asset to the entire state, homeowners and even renters.

For the past few years I have been working to permit the construction of new multifamily buildings with a single staircase, which can help reduce the cost of production, and introduce new diversity to the housing supply. Single staircases are allowed in many other jurisdictions including in the U.S. and abroad.