VOL. 6 ISSUE 3, JUN. 2022
THE MINNESOTA HOUSING INDUSTRY NEWS SOURCE BY HOUSING FIRST MINNESOTA • HOUSINGINDUSTRYNEWS.ORG
Without any substantial housing policy changes signed into law this year, Minnesota homebuyers will continue to face one of the worst available for-sale inventories in the country.
Zoning modernization stalls as legislature and governor unable to reach final deal With one week remaining in the 2022 legislative session, Gov. Tim Walz, House Speaker Melissa Hortman and Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller announced a framework agreement on the front lawn of the State Capitol. The agreement was to utilize the largest state surplus in history with a combination of $4 billion toward a tax bill and a $1.4 billion capital investment bill. It also includes additional spending of $1 billion in education, $1 billion for health care and human services, and $450 million for public safety. Additional investments are to come from a $1.32 billion pot. Left on the bottom line is $4 billion to help the state manage future economic uncertainty. The three leaders then asked the chairs of committees and commissioners to work on the finer details of the legislative language. The final week of session included many long nights and tough negotiations from
these legislative leaders. But the Senate GOP and House DFL were unable to bridge the rather large gaps between their respective omnibus bills, only finding agreement on a handful of subjects, before the clock struck midnight on the constitutionally mandated final day of session. With very few items reaching a final consensus, much of the record $9.2 billion surplus will remain unutilized, unless a special session is called by Walz to try to finish the negotiations. Ultimately, the housing legislative language and funding proposals that were in play had a similar fate as other subject matter with no final agreement. Throughout the course of the legislative session, each chamber had a radically different focus with the GOP-led Senate identifying homeownership opportunities as their priority and DFL-controlled House spending a majority
of their committee time and efforts on state government funding and landlord/tenant legislation. “The legislature had a good opportunity to begin the modernization of our housing approval process, so the collapse of a global deal is disappointing,” said James Vagle, vice president of advocacy at Housing First Minnesota. “On the issue of housing supply and homeownership access, the challenges won’t resolve themselves; regulatory roadblocks have to get lifted.” Without any substantial policy changes getting signed into law this year, Minnesota homebuyers will now continue to face one of the worst available for-sale inventories in the country, the largest homeownership gap in the country and the most expensive new housing in the Midwest. CONTINUED >> PAGE 6
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Minneapolis Fed survey reveals growing challenges in construction PAGE 5
Rising interest rates pose challenges for homebuyers PAGE 10
Homebuilding industry honors spring award recipients PAGE 12
Minnesota Supreme Court to review Burnsville park fee case The Minnesota Supreme Court announced it will review the Puce v. Burnsville park fee suit following the city of Burnsville’s appeal of a February Court of Appeals victory for project applicant Almir Puce. At a mid-January 2019 meeting, the Burnsville Planning Commission voted 4-1 to approve Puce’s commercial project with 17 conditions, one of which was the payment of a $37,804 park fee. Puce asked the city to waive the fee as the proposed three-phased development that included a proposed auto dealership and bakery would not result in the need for more parks. CONTINUED >> PAGE 4 HOUSING INDUSTRY NEWS
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