City/Town: St. Paul

Legislative District: Senate District 64

Party: Republican Party of Minnesota

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?

Zoning that makes it profitable to destroy large single family and small starter homes replacing them with private dorms for college students or large rental apartment buildings reduces the options available for home ownership in Senate District 64. In the last six years government policies have destroyed small businesses and employment, raised real estate, sales and income taxes have made it difficult to save for, purchase and build equity in home ownership. These burdens along with excess regulations must be reduced or eliminated moving forward to create private sector jobs and housing opportunities for everyone.

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?

I will support policies that will bring manufacturing production and small businesses back to our Senate District so that jobs are available for those willing to seek treatment, jobs and housing.

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?

See my answers above addressing taxes and regulation relief.

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?

See my answers above.

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 do not support this constitutional amendment. I do support reducing revenue to the state.

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

I support policies that make our streets and communities safer. I support policies that make our streets and communities safer. For instance ending sanctuary cities and sanctuary states which encourage illegal migrants to move here causing housing shortages for our own citizens, higher rentals and home prices. In addition it costs $22k per student to educate their children and could cost up to $47k in welfare benefits annually.