Minnesota Housing Partnership Candidate Questionnaire (supported by Homes for All)
Candidate responses in italics.
Name: Jeanne Poppe
City/Town: Austin
Legislative District: 27B
Party: DFL
District Issues: How would you characterize the housing needs in your district, for both renters and for homeowners?
Old housing stock. Limited workplace housing. Many poor quality rental properties.
Availability of Affordable Housing: More than 25% of households in Minnesota pay more than 30 percent of their income on housing, meaning they must sacrifice in other areas like food and medicine to make ends meet. What steps will you take to encourage the production of more affordable homes?
We could give tax credits and incentives to developers and builders. Tax credits to home owners to buy better quality properties. Renters credits should continue.
Workers: A full-time minimum wage worker cannot afford a one-bedroom apartment in any county in Minnesota — and many of the fastest growing jobs are in low-wage industries. What investments or policy would you champion to address the growing gap between what workers can afford and housing costs?
We need to support an economy that grows job opportunities. Lower college tuition so expenses can be reduced. Keep property taxes at a modest level.
Homelessness: A lack of affordable housing options is one of the top reasons for homelessness, for individuals or families. What will you do to end homelessness in Minnesota?
Provide short term housing options, transition housing. Support building homes and apts that support cohorts of people: veterans, seniors, families. People need job opportunities and transportation options to be able to travel to work.
Seniors and children: More than half of senior renters and more than 1 in 4 senior homeowners pay more than they can afford for housing. Meanwhile, children without stable, affordable housing have lower educational and health outcomes. What will you do to ensure housing policy and resources support Minnesota's seniors and students?
Make sure renters’ credits and tax credits remain in place. Every corner of the state has housing needs. Not every corner has identical needs but all need to support people and housing.
Racial Disparities: Minnesota's racial disparities in housing are among the worst in the nation, for renters and homeowners. For instance, 22 percent of Black households are homeowners, compared to 76 percent of white households. How will you reduce the racial homeownership gap and other disparities in housing for households of color?
Encourage mixed type housing throughout communities so all ages and economic/social levels are integrated within neighborhoods. Make sure adequate housing is built near transit. Have neighborhoods including grocery, schools, medical facilities are relatively close at hand.
Rental Stability: Rental assistance is proven to reduce homelessness, housing instability, and overcrowding, but 75% of residents who qualify for rental assistance do not receive this limited resource. What will you do to expand access to housing assistance to every household that needs it?
Provide more education about it. Landlords need to be encouraged to inform renters.
Funding: We cannot meet our growing, statewide housing needs without significant additional resources. Will you support a dedicated source of funding for affordable housing? Why or why not?
It is important to support and pay for housing. I’m not sure I support dedicating a certain stream to housing. The more we dedicate funds to specific needs, the less control we have to adjust our budget including providing more money for some needs. When we dedicate funds the public can begin to believe problems are solved and when they aren’t it becomes harder to seek additional dollars from the public because they can think the problem is solved.
