City/Town: Winona
Legislative District: House District 26A
Party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
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
Increasing funding for targeted communities like seniors and folks with disabilities. While also at the same time reducing red tape to make it easier for builders to build abundant market rate rentals and homes. Also passing the Manufactured Home Bill of Rights to protect manufactured home parks from private equity. This is a massive problem in Minnesota and Winona County that has massive down stream impacts across our economy. Creating more housing has been the focus of my campaign from day one. If I am fortunate enough to be elected, it will be my priority on day one in St. Paul.
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?
Increasing or maintaining their funding, while ensuring that our rural communities have an abundant supply of affordable housing. Also, fully funding year round shelters especially in Greater Minnesota. In Winona, we had two shelter residents die after the winter shelter was closed for the year. We can do better, and we must do better. Investing in emergency shelters also saves the community money in the decreased ER and police station visits.
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?
Passing the Manufactured Home Bill of Rights is a great first step to ensure more affordable pathways to home ownership especially if they are cooperatively owned by residents. It is also important to prioritize construction of more condos and cooperative apartments. As a member of a land coop I recognize the advantages and disadvantages to this kind of ownership. It has made farming accessible to our family, but has also made it harder to receive home or farm loans. In greater Minnesota, prioritizing more affordable senior housing is a good way to also help open up homes for first time home buyers.
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?
I have advocated and supported the Starter Home package of bills that did not pass last year. That work found amazing common ground between groups that hardly agree on anything. That framework should be what that the Legislature pursues.
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 support the constitutional amendment going to voters on the ballot. I also would ensure that we create a revolving loan fund for rural housing development. If we pass a sales tax for more housing, we need ensure that a majority of those funds go to meeting the housing demand in Greater Minnesota first. This is how we build financial and cultural equity between the metro area and the rest of the state.
Q6: If you have other housing policy priorities, especially specific to your district’s housing needs, please share them here.
I am prioritizing building 100 units of deeply affordable senior housing in downtown Winona if elected using State bonding dollars. Winona County is in a housing crisis, and we need leaders to pursue this doggedly. Constructing an apartment is a short term solution for Seniors and first time home buyers. Zoning changes will help the market correct itself over the long term. For all major problems in Minnesota, we need to ensure that we have an immediate and long term solution.