L E G I S L AT I V E U P D AT E
Legislature Adjourns with Incremental Housing Progress Y O U R A S S O C I AT I O N F I G H T S O F F A D D I T I O N A L I M PA C T F E E S After a full 18 months of being gaveled in for either regular session or a special session, July marked the first month that the legislature was not in session since the pandemic began. Legislators used nearly every minute before a government shutdown would have commenced, but a full budget was finally passed and signed into law by Gov. Walz on June 30, including an omnibus housing bill.
director of legislative and political affairs at the association. “The Senate advanced bills focused on expanding the overall supply of housing and advancing homeownership opportunities for more Minnesotans. Meanwhile the House spent their time advancing additional park and street impact fees that would cost homeowners thousands of dollars more and refused to hear any bills addressing Minnesota’s exclusionary zoning practices.”
Unfortunately, nearly all major housing industry priorities that were included in the Senate’s version of the housing bill, including the removal of exclusionary zoning practices, failed to make it through final negotiations. “Despite our state’s already acute and worsening housing inventory and affordability crises, the legislature and Gov. Walz failed to enact any meaningful reform to address the regulatory roadblocks which are pushing homeownership out of reach for far too many Minnesotans,” stated David Siegel, the association’s executive director. “Our housing crisis will only be solved when the legislature fully addresses these roadblocks and exclusionary zoning practices that have taken Minnesota to record-high home prices and the largest homeownership equity gap in the country between white and black Minnesotans.” “All throughout session we saw two vastly different strategies in approaching Minnesota’s housing issues,” said Mark Foster,
Senator Rich Draheim (R - Madison Lake) is the chair of the Senate Housing Committee. He introduced and advanced many pieces of legislation aimed at expanding the supply of affordable starter homes statewide. OCTOBER–DECEMBER 2021 | HOUSING FIRST MINNESOTA
The Digest
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