Things are really starting to pick up at the MN Legislature. Lawmakers are hearing bills at frantic pace in order to meet second deadline on April 1 - today! Second deadline is the date by which committees must act favorably on bills, or companions of bills, that met the first deadline in the other body. And throughout this week and early next, committees will release, take testimony on, and mark up their omnibus spending and policy bills.

Today, the House Housing Finance and Policy Committee released its committee report. The House proposes spending an additional $230 million in general funds this year and adding $185 million to the base budget in the next biennium. This proposal would nearly triple Minnesota Housing Finance Agency’s budget. Along with the additional general fund spending, the bill includes $400 million in Housing Infrastructure Bonds. The House also includes all of Governor Walz’s tenant and source of income protections policy. Check out the bill and spreadsheet for more details. Funding includes:

• Challenge Fund: $20 million increase this year and $17.5million added to the base each year in the next biennium.  
• Housing Trust Fund – Rental Assistance: $10 million increase this year and $10 million added to the base each year in the next biennium.  
• Homework Starts with Home: $10 million increase this year and $10 million added to the base each year in the next biennium. 
• Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program: $14 million increase this year and $10 million added to the base each year in the next biennium. 
• Local Housing Trust Fund State Match: $7 million this year.
• Strengthening the Supportive Housing Model (new program): $5 million this year and $5 million added to the base each year in the next biennium.  
• Flexible Financing for Capital Costs (new): $5 million this year.
• Community Stabilization (NOAH preservation/new program): $100,000 million this year and $40 million each year in the next biennium.  
• First Generation Home Buyer Assistance (new program): $50 million this year.
• Manufactured Home Lending Grants (new program): $5.192 million this year.
• Lead Safe Homes (new program): $2 million this year.
• Homeownership Education Program (new program): $1 million this year.
• Mediation Grant Program (new program): $425,000 this year.
• Source of Income Protections (new): $383,000 this year.

In addition to the Governor’s tenant and source of income protections, the House includes the following policy changes include:  

• Expands Homework Starts with Home eligibility.
• Expands Housing Infrastructure Bond eligibility to include deeper affordability without supportive services.
• Allows senior projects funded with HIBS to include 20% of the units for individuals of any age with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  
• Requires projects funded with HIBs to include 1) the greater of at least one unit or at least 5% of units that are accessible units and include one shower and 2) the greater of at least one unit or at least 5% of units that are sensory accessible units.
• Requires MHFA to prioritize its use of appropriations for any program to serve households most affected by housing disparities.  
• Prohibits an eviction with a pending rental assistance application.

Look for a blog early next week with a side by side comparison of the Governor, House and Senate proposals.

On March 15, MHP Executive Director Anne Mavity testified in support of HF3982, which creates a $100M grant program to distribute money to cities and counties for them to develop and rehabilitate affordable housing in the House Taxes Committee. Read the Session Daily article here.

Advocate with MHP!

Phone Bank for Source of Income Protections 

Please join us for a virtual phone bank on April 6th, from 12:00pm – 1:00pm. Join us in calling and urging your lawmakers to pass Source of Income Protections. Hosted on Zoom, MHP will help provide a quick training, scripts, and everything else you may need to be successful! Contact Brian Muhs with any questions. Register here to attend.  

President Biden and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge released their full fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget request for housing and community development programs.

The request proposes $12.3B more funding to HUD programs than the FY21 level, and $50 billion in mandatory and other federal investments for affordable housing. (See NLIHC’s analysis and updated budget chart). It expands housing vouchers to an additional 200,000 households. If enacted, this would be the most significant expansion of housing vouchers in the program’s history.  

The president’s budget also requests significant investments to address homelessness and to preserve and increase the supply of affordable housing, including a proposed 11% increase for Homeless Assistance Grants, a 10% increase for public housing capital funding, and a 30% increase to the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME). Beyond appropriated funds, it calls for increasing housing supply through a combination of additional Low Income Housing Tax Credits and $35 billion in mandatory funding. 

The President’s budget also greatly increases funding to USDA for rural housing. Section 515 rental housing goes from $50 million in FY22 to $200 million in FY23, with the funds to be used for preserving existing section 515 properties. The Multifamily Preservation and Revitalization program, which finances efforts to upgrade and maintain aging units constructed with Section 515 financing or the Section 514/516 farmworker housing program, would jump from $34 million to $75 million in FY23. The budget also asks Congress to “decouple” Rental Assistance from Section 515, so that RA could be offered after a property pays off its USDA mortgage--keeping properties affordable for their tenants (currently the programs are linked: RA cannot be made available to a property unless it has a USDA Section 515 or 514 loan). Here is analysis of rural housing provisions from HAC.  

Additionally, the budget would also provide $20.8 million to expand the Native American Section 502 Relending pilot program. The pilot has enabled Native Community Development Financial Institutions to assist Native American homebuyers in tribal communities of South Dakota and North Dakota. 

MHP coordinated three meetings as part of NLIHC’s virtual Capitol Hill Day on March 24, on behalf of the Minnesota Chapter of Opportunity Starts at Home. MHP coordinated meetings for 25 advocates with Senator Smith and staff from the offices of Congressman Pete Stauber and 

Congresswoman Betty McCollum, as part of NLIHC’s virtual Day on Capitol Hill. We advocated for robust housing investments in the Fiscal Year 23 budget, including for increased rental assistance, rural and tribal housing, and development and preservation of affordable homes. [add some combination of the 3 photos of meetings provided already).  

Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) reintroduced the “Homes for All Act” on March 24. The bill – supported by NLIHC – would invest $1 trillion in dramatically expanding public housing and the national Housing Trust Fund. 

“MHP commends Congresswoman Omar for re-introducing the Homes for All act. History shows that incremental increases in investment at both the state and federal levels do not meet our basic and fundamental need for housing. No matter where we’re from or where we live, having a safe, stable place to come home to is the foundation for Americans’ wellbeing. By funding housing to the scale actually needed by our nation’s families, this legislation supports thriving and healthy families, jobs and economic competitiveness, children’s educational success, and strong communities.” —Anne Mavity, MHP Executive Director

In a March Senate Agriculture Committee, Senator Smith references USDA 515 data provided by MHP as she raised rural housing issues with USDA Rural Development Undersecretary Torres Small and asks about support for housing in Indian Country. A recording of the Senator’s exchange may be found here.  

North Olympic Regional Veterans Housing Network (NORVHN) will have an open house on April 20th for its new supportive housing project in Forks, WA. Hobucket House is a 7-bedroom group home for disabled Veterans located named after James Hobucket, a founding NORVHN board member, VFW Service Officer, Vietnam Veteran and Quileute Warrior. 

The Hobucket House project is how MHP became introduced to NORVHN, and aligns with our mission. MHP's Community Development team is currently working with NORVHN on organizational and economic development initiatives. 

MHP is looking for someone interested in and committed to affordable housing who wants to start at the ground level assisting our Community Development department.

You’ll provide support for our team’s work of planning, coordinating, delivering and reporting on Community Development projects across the country. This is a very interesting and busy position! No need to live in Minnesota either—we are 100% remote.

CONTACT US