• Housing Equity the focus of March Investors Council event

    At Minnesota Housing Partnership’s Investors Council virtual breakfast meeting on March 25, 2021, Anne Mavity, Executive Director of MHP, welcomed a dynamic presentation and panel to address the topic of “Prosperity for All: The Role of Housing.” Specifically, Mavity asked ”How do we move beyond business as usual towards more bold and equitable outcomes, to create a more equitable housing market?”

    “We are in a moment of enormous challenges, but also in a moment of enormous opportunity,” she said.

    Each speaker addressed the opportunity and the question posed by Mavity. Introductory remarks were provided by Minnesota Housing Commissioner, Jennifer Ho. A keynote address was provided by Gary Cunningham, President & CEO of Prosperity Now and he was then joined by panelists Vihar Sheth, Senior Vice President & Director of Business Development – Equity & Affordable Housing for U.S. Bank and Nawal Noor, Founder & CEO of Noor Companies.

    Minnesota Housing Commissioner Jennifer Ho started by sharing the bold and equitable solutions generated by State of Minnesota and the Federal Government. The Agency has worked on the Qualified Allocation Plan by shifting points and updating language, and they have seen it play out by giving more points to applications submitted by black, indigenous, and people of color, as well as women. Minnesota Housing has brought in equity experts for their Leadership team to help them think about how they do the work and ask important questions about equity as they design new stimulus programs.

    The Agency also has policy bills on the table around Tenants Rights, which Commissioner Ho described as, “kind of a new space for the Agency,” with the firm belief that there should not be discrimination based on source of income and that there should be a slightly longer process for evictions. Moreover, there should be time given to people to access the COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program.

    Finally, at the federal level, Commissioner Ho is optimistic about the position of Senator Tina Smith as the Chair of a key Senate Banking Subcommittee that oversees important aspects of the nation’s housing, transportation and community development policies.

    Next, Mavity introduced keynote speaker, Gary Cunningham, President & CEO of Prosperity Now, located in Washington, D.C. He provided the audience with grounding in the lens of racial homeownership disparities and cost-burden disparity statistics, as well as the importance of homeownership in an asset building framework. He also proposed some bold solutions and policy recommendations to expand affordable housing:

    • Reinstate the 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule
    • Expand Housing Choice Vouchers to Fully Meet the Need
    • Expand and Leverage Existing Public Resources to Further Encourage the Development of Affordable Housing
    • Reform Existing Upside-down Housing Tax Incentives

    Cunningham also highlighted that Prosperity Now has specific federal policy proposals that will shift the current housing policy that would make housing a right, not just a privilege. Prosperity Now’s Pathway to Housing for All includes a pathway from supporting renters to supporting homeownership.

    • Phase 1: Low-Income Renters’ Credit
    • Phase 2: Downpayment-Builder Matched Savings Program
    • Phase 3: First-Timer Homeowners’ Credit
    • Phase 4: Homeowners Post-Purchase Tax Credit

    Next, in response to Cunningham’s remarks, Vihar Sheth, Senior Vice President & Director of Business Development – Equity & Affordable Housing at U.S. Bank, provided an update on his work and the Bank’s bold solutions. Specifically, his team has been trying to re-orient business through an anti-racist lens based on a racial equity agenda they have recently developed.

    Nawal Noor, Founder & CEO of Noor Companies, then delivered robust commentary on her background in the corporate arena and the affordable housing space, as well as her bold equity solutions.

    Noor said that from her corporate background she learned the importance of action versus solely talking about the challenges of housing disparities.

    “It takes partnerships and transparency,” Noor said.

    She applauded Minnesota Housing for their work in revising their Qualified Allocation Plan. Noor also suggested that construction innovation needs to take place in terms of “partnerships between architects, funders, and builders in order to eliminate inefficiencies in the design, material selection, training, constructability of the project, and workforce development.”

    “Those partnerships are so crucial to be able to change the trajectory of where we are today.”

    The panel ended with a question distilled by Mavity from comments and questions posed by the Zoom audience of more 100 people.

    “What are the tools, legislation, and structural changes that would be most impactful in moving the ball forward?” one audience member asked.

    Vihar Sheth responded that the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program has become the “core element” of trying to solve all of our issues. He continued by saying that instead of throwing more resources at the program, we need to design modern programs to address old and new issues. Cunningham answered the question by stating that we need to re-imagine and re-design the Community Reinvestment Act and to think bigger and bolder about the solutions.

    Cunningham closed by saying that, “Solutions that we had in the past won’t address the problems that we have today.”

    To be part of these dynamic conversations, become a contributor or renew your contribution in the MHP Investors Council today!

    RobynLingen

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  • MHP releases 2021 State of the State’s Housing report

    Minnesota Housing Partnership (MHP) has released its third edition of State of the State’s Housing. The 80-page report shows that more than a quarter of Minnesota families pay more than they can afford for housing — and that number is growing. In addition to spotlighting key trends across Minnesota’s 87 counties, like the gap between the costs of housing and the salaries of in-demand jobs, the report also ranks counties on benchmarks like renter cost burden and showcases issues like aging housing stock with dynamic maps. The report also shares stories from communities collaborating to tackle local needs.

    Key findings include:

    • More affordable housing needed. In Minnesota, there is critical need for housing particularly for extremely low-income renters, or renter households that earn at or under 30% of area median income (AMI). There are approximately 169,585 renter households in the state fall into this category; yet, there are only 64,238 affordable and available units at this income level across the state. This leaves a gap of 105,347 units needed for extremely low-income renters.
    • Homeownership disparities persist. Racial disparities in Minnesota are among the worst in the nation. While 77 percent of all white households own their home, 60 percent of Asian, 50 percent of Hispanic, 49 percent of Native American, and just 25 percent of Black households own their homes.
    • Housing costs are increasing. Housing costs continue to increase disproportionately to income. Between 2000 and 2019, the median renter income in Minnesota decreased by 1 percent, yet the median gross rent for the state increased by 14 percent.
    • Cost burden disparities magnified. The cost-burden disparity for renters and homeowners of color is stark. In Minnesota, 44 percent of white renters are cost burdened; in contrast, 58 percent of Black renters — 82,364 renter households — pay more than they can afford on housing.
    • Wages are not keeping up with housing costs. Of the top five in-demand jobs in the state, three do not earn enough for quality housing to be affordable. Relatively low-earning positions central to the healthcare industry, particularly home health and personal care aides and nursing assistants, are expected to see some of the largest increases in demand over the next ten years.

    “MHP’s State of the State’s Housing Report 2021 shows that Minnesota has work to do to ensure access to affordable housing for all our neighbors. We have seen how essential housing is to maintaining health, to supporting education for our children, to driving economic growth for our businesses, yet we continue to fall behind in addressing the significant and increasing gaps between housing costs and incomes. This impacts every sector, impacts every family, impacts every region across our state,” said Anne Mavity, Executive Director of Minnesota Housing Partnership. “Our report also highlights how these gaps in housing affordability are particularly and inequitably impacting Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), Minnesotans at the lowest incomes.”

    The full report can be accessed here.

    RobynLingen

  • State and Federal Update: Energy Equity, Surplus, Rep. Howard and Sen. Duckworth

    Report by Hibo Ali, MHP’s Capitol Pathways intern for 2021. 

    MHP hosted its fifth State and Federal Legislative Update Series of the year on March 5, 2021. MHP heard from Senator Zach Duckworth (R, 58), Representative Michael Howard (DFL, 50A), Ben Passer of Fresh Energy, and Metric Giles of Community Stabilization Project.

    State Update

    Vice Chair of the House Housing Finance and Policy Committee, Rep. Michael Howard, and Vice Chair of the Senate Housing Finance and Policy Committee, Sen. Zach Duckworth, discussed housing priorities for this legislative session and challenges they will face in the coming weeks.

    Rep. Howard emphasized the importance of housing security and how this past year has made housing an especially pertinent policy area. Rep. Howard explained that housing is at the center of many different areas including health, economic security, racial disparities, etc. Rep. Howard explained that many challenging decisions will have to be made regarding the projected state surplus, but resources and attention should be directed toward individuals and small businesses that have been most impacted by COVID-19. Rep. Howard discussed that there are many needs within housing that must be addressed including investing in manufactured home park communities, investing in naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH), and propping up homeownership. Because the needs in housing are so great and competition between these areas may arise, it is important that as housing advocates we advocate for “outside-the-box thinking and investing”, said Rep. Howard.

    Sen. Duckworth, a newly elected member of the Minnesota Senate, discussed how critical housing policy is on “both sides of the aisle” and echoed many of Rep. Howard’s points. Sen. Duckworth explained that the surplus, while great, will have “competing interests” and housing is still certainly one of the many critical needs that should be addressed with this surplus. Addressing the needs of manufactured home park communities, propping up homeownership, and keeping rents more affordable are all included in Sen. Duckworth’s housing priorities this session.

    Community Perspective

    Lead director of the Energy Access and Equity division of Fresh Energy, Ben Passer, and Director of Community Stabilization Project (CSP), Metric Giles, joined MHP to discuss equity in energy and housing policy formation.

    Passer provided us with an overview of the Minnesota Multifamily Affordable Housing Network (MMAHEN) and its work centering equity in energy and housing policy. Passer discussed how energy efficiency in residential properties is a win-win that benefits both renters and property owners. Passer also drew the connections of energy efficiency to “increased health and comfort, reducing potential medical expenses, and reducing costly tenant turnover”. Additionally, building owners benefit from lower maintenance costs as a result of energy efficiency in under-resourced households and multifamily housing. Finally, Passer emphasized Fresh Energy’s commitment to encouraging deeper energy efficiency for all and engaging with communities facing these barriers.

    Giles gave an overview of CSP’s work and discussed the need for race equity in policy formation. Giles first touched on the wide racial homeownership gap in the state of Minnesota. Giles explained that CSP’s work centers on stabilizing people through “the relationship of renters and property owners”; they do this work through educating renters of their rights and responsibilities. CSP also actively engages with property owners to address the barriers they face renting out their units. Finally, Giles explained that racial equity can only be achieved through justice, and “justice means that we have policies that will provide opportunities for everyone”.

     

    RobynLingen

  • State and Federal Update: Rep. Ilhan Omar gives a federal update

    Report by Hibo Ali, MHP’s Capitol Pathways intern for 2021. 

    As part of Minnesota Housing Partnership’s (MHP) fourth State and Legislative Update Series on February 19, 2021, attendees heard from US Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN5), MN Representative Fue Lee (DFL-59A), and St. Paul Public Housing Authority’s (PHA) Executive Director, Jon Gutzmann.

    Federal Update

    Rep. Omar discussed what is currently underway at the US Capitol and what we can expect from the federal government in the coming months.

    Rep. Omar shared her excitement of working on transformative housing policies this year with a united government. Some of the housing priorities the Representative is working on include rent and mortgage cancelation and calling for an acquisition fund (anti-gentrification fund). Additionally, Rep. Omar touched on housing priorities laid out in the new stimulus package. As part of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, $30 billion will be allocated to rental and utility assistance –– $5 billion of which being earmarked to address homelessness.

    Answering a few questions from the audience, Rep. Omar covered the inner workings of her proposed Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act, discussed the stimulus package in more detail, and talked about a few anticipated infrastructure and energy bills (that include housing priorities).

    State Update

    For a state update, MHP heard from Chair of the House of Representative’s Capital Investment Committee, Rep. Lee.

    As the legislative session is ramping up with bill hearings, Rep. Lee has been trying to find ways to address the housing crisis through the House Capital Investment Committee. Rep. Lee also mentioned that along with housing, his committee is prioritizing racial equity and climate impact. Rep. Lee emphasized the need for housing investments through bonding and made clear that the Governor’s housing infrastructure bonds proposal of $100 million is just “not enough”. Nevertheless, he is “optimistic and hopeful” that the legislature can work together to find a way to address the housing crisis in MN. Finally, Rep. Lee emphasized the importance of engaging legislators and made a call to action urging advocates to do just that in order for crucial housing policies to build momentum.

    Community Perspective

    Finally, MHP was joined by St. Paul PHA’s Executive Director, Jon Gutzmann, to discuss what is currently happening with public housing in St. Paul.

    St. Paul Public Housing has 4,300 units of public housing and 4,900 Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers; Jon explained that these affordable housing opportunities house 21,000 low-income folks in St. Paul. Jon also highlighted St. Paul’s PHA’s 30-year record of collecting 99% of the rents; this has changed with COVID-19 with there being about a 3.5% delinquency rate (as opposed to the normal ~0.5% delinquency rate). Finally, Jon said that he is looking forward to the aforementioned infrastructure bill that is expected to be the source for public housing capital.

    RobynLingen

  • State and Federal Update: Talking the Governor’s budget and manufactured housing

    Report by Hibo Ali, MHP’s Capitol Pathways intern for 2021. 

    MHP hosted its third State and Legislative Update Series of the year on February 5, 2021. MHP heard from Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA) Commissioner Jennifer Ho, Senator Rich Draheim (R, 20), Dave Anderson of All Parks Alliance for Change (APAC), and Natividad Seefeld of Park Plaza Cooperative.

    State Update
    MHFA Commissioner Jennifer Ho and Chair of the Senate Housing Finance and Policy Committee, Senator Rich Draheim, joined MHP to talk the Governor’s budget, Senate Housing priorities, and more.

    Commissioner Ho highlighted the significance of priorities laid out in the Governor’s Budget Proposal during COVID-19. Commissioner Ho emphasized that importance of making certain investments during COVID-19 in order to aid in economic recovery. She went on to call the budget the “COVID-19 recovery budget”. Commissioner Ho also noted the strong effect housing has on almost every other aspect of daily life (e.g., kids in schools); if housing is invested in early on or proactively, a lot less money and focus is spent in these other areas. Additionally, Commissioner Ho reiterated the point that low-income folks have undoubtedly been hit the hardest “both by the pandemic and the economic fallout” that ensued. Finally, when asked about the prospects of a source-of-income discrimination proposal, Commissioner Ho said she was “hopeful” but that it is still too early to bet on prospects.

    Sen. Draheim, who currently chairs the Senate Housing and Finance Policy Committee, previously served on Governor Dayton’s Task Force on Housing. Sen. Draheim explained that while there are many intricacies of housing policy that range from topics of “homeownership to homelessness to everything in between,” there is a need to conceptualize housing policies a little more “outside the box.” Sen. Draheim then laid out his current housing priorities. His priorities include addressing the racial homeownership gap in Minnesota, finding an off-ramp for the eviction moratorium, figuring out a way to handle the COVID-19 Housing Assistance Program, creating a pathway to homeownership, and addressing housing instability/homelessness.

    Community Perspective
    Executive Director of All Parks Alliance for Change (APAC), Dave Anderson, and president of Park Plaza Cooperative, Natividad Seefeld, joined MHP to discuss what is happening with manufactured housing in Minnesota.

    Anderson highlighted the large role manufactured housing plays in providing affordable housing throughout the state. Anderson shared a few of APAC’s proposals this legislative session to combat some problems faced by manufactured home park residents. One of these proposals includes the need for resident opportunity to purchase––this includes a 60-day advance notice of intended park sales and negotiating with home park residents in good faith. Additionally,  Anderson emphasized the need for a proposal that ensures rent stabilization. Finally, Anderson spoke about the feasibility of these proposals as they are already in effect in a number of states.

    Seefeld reiterated many of Dave’s points. Seefeld explained the significance of giving home park residents the opportunity to purchase. Seefeld pointed out that this was especially important in cases where homes are simply too old to move; this puts residents that aren’t given the opportunity to purchase the land beneath their home in a very tough position. Seefeld was glad to share that they successfully secured Rep. Connie Bernardy as an author to an opportunity to purchase bill that will undoubtedly help many Minnesotans.

     

     

     

     

    RobynLingen

  • MHP remembers Joe Weis

    Joe Weis, a Rochester-based affordable housing developer for more than 5 decades, died over the weekend at 88. Joe was an active advocate for housing for under-resourced people, and he had a long history with the Minnesota Housing Partnership. 

    Many MHP staff remembered Joe as an advocate for affordable housing and for assisting MHP in a range of ways. He and his business, Weis Builders, were contributors to MHP’s Investors Council. He served as a board member from 2006 to 2015. But his history with MHP goes back even further. 

    Chip Halbach, MHP’s founding executive director who retired in 2017, remembered Weis: 

    “Joe Weis was recruited to the MHP board of directors to bring the perspective of a private sector developer creating affordable housing in Greater Minnesota. What I came to appreciate over the nine years of Joe’s board service was his keen wit and intellect, his willingness to listen to all points of view, and, above all, his deep commitment to improving the housing conditions of low income people.”

    Warren Kramer, MHP’s Director of Community Development, recalls MHP working with Weis on their first LIHTC project in the late 1990s. 

    “Mark Agnessi and I were hired to help with Weis’s first ever tax credit application for a 100 unit apartment building in Rochester.  At the time, it was one of the top 10 largest deals MHFA had ever done with MHP serving as a ‘Processing Agent’ with Weis.  As was his custom, Joe handed out big cigars to some of us that were involved in getting the project financed.  We (MHP) did several other projects with Weis Builders and their related companies before they developed the capacity to do it on their own.  Joe Weis was awesome.”

    MHP staff recall that Weis attended every affordable housing meeting or event that he could. 

    “It was an absolute given that he would ALWAYS ask a question of any speaker or panel if there was a Q&A,” remembers MHP Director of Fund Development Luke Avery. “If you were MHP staff and  circulating microphones you had to  know where he was sitting, because someone was going to have to get over to him and if he was called on, he wouldn’t wait for the mic if it didn’t show up immediately.”

    “He also always, always engaged with MHP’s policy work,” recalls Libby Murphy, MHP’s Deputy Policy Director. “Even on vacation, he’d pick up his phone to assist. He was a great champion of MHP’s policy agendas throughout the years.”

    He was known for wanting to build good places for under-resourced people to live, and he told the Rochester Post-Bulletin in 2016: “It is satisfying work.”

    “We extend our sympathy to Joe’s family and his extended circle of friends and housing advocates,” MHP Executive Director Anne Mavity said. “He was a forceful champion of affordable housing and will be missed.”  

    RobynLingen

  • Walz releases budget proposal; here’s what’s in it for housing

    This analysis of the governor’s budget was created by MHP Deputy Policy Director Libby Murphy.

    On Tuesday, Jan. 26, Governor Tim Walz released his FY22-23 budget proposal. The proposal includes $100 million in Housing Infrastructure Bonds and $14 million in one-time appropriations.

    Proposed One-Time Funding  

     

     

    Program

    Proposed Base Budget Increase

    Households served or homes built FY22-23

    Family Homeless Prevention (FHPAP)

    $4M

    2,000 households

    Challenge Program

    $4M

    60-100 new homes

    Homeownership Assistance Fund

    $1.5M

    175 households

    Homework Starts with Home

    $1M

    185 families

    Workforce and Affordable Housing

    $1.5M

    40-50 households

    Manufactured Housing Infrastructure Funding

    $1M

     

    Homeownership Education, Counseling, and Training (HECAT)

    $.5M

    2,500 households

    Bridges Rental Assistance

    $.5M

    70 households

    Total

    $14M

     

     

    Proposed Transfers

     

     

    Transfer From

    Transfer To

    Amount

    Rental Rehab Deferred Loan

    Workforce Housing Development Program

    $2M ONE TIME


    $100 million Housing Infrastructure Bonds (HIBS)

    HIBS are the largest state source of development resources and can be used for a variety of eligible uses, including new construction and preservation of housing that serves some of Minnesota’s lowest income and most under-resourced households.

    $4 million Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program (FHPAP)

    (FHPAP) assists families who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness. FHPAP has successfully prevented homelessness, minimized the periods of homelessness, eliminated repeat episodes of homelessness.  Current funding levels only serve about two-thirds of those eligible to receive FHPAP assistance. Last RFP, MH had more than $4M in requests that were not able to be funded.

    $4 million Challenge Fund

    New housing construction has not kept pace with household growth. In MN today, the statewide rental vacancy rate is between 4%-6% and there is a less than five-month supply of homes for sale. These conditions limit options for families. The development of new housing is critical for economic growth and job creation. The proposal will produce more new workforce housing opportunities.

    $1.5 million Homeownership Assistance Fund

    A lack of wealth available for entry costs contributes to the homeownership gap between white and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) households. Many households have the income to make monthly mortgage payments but lack the wealth necessary for a down payment or closing costs. The Homeownership Assistance Fund helps moderate-income households become successful homeowners through down payment and closing cost assistance.

    $1 million Homework Starts with Home

     On October 1, 2019 there were 9, 060 students experiencing homelessness who were enrolled in Minnesota schools. Homework Starts with Home provides rent and other housing assistance to families with school-aged children that lack housing stability.

    $1.5 million Workforce and Affordable Homeownership Program

    In addition to structural and institutional barriers, one of the reasons for this racial homeownership gap in Minnesota is due to the lack of affordable homeownership opportunities. Multiple dynamics create a greater need for new affordable opportunities that are within reach for first-time, along with low- and moderate- income buyers. The Workforce and Affordable Homeownership Program provides competitive grants to increase the supply of workforce and affordable homeownership opportunities.

    $1 million Manufactured Housing Park Infrastructure Funding

    Minnesota Housing has resources to support the preservation and improvements of manufactured home, as well as the purchase of new homes, but lack on-going resources to finance infrastructure improvements of the parks.  This fund provides infrastructure improvements including streets, sewer and water and lighting.

    $500,000 Homeownership Education, Counseling and Training (HECAT)

    Given the economic impacts of the pandemic, Minnesota Housing anticipates that many homeowners will need foreclosure counseling. Preventing displacement is critical to supporting communities and homeowners.

    $500,000 Bridges Rental Assistance

    The Bridges program supports people with serious mental illness and allows them to live, work and learn in the most integrated settings in their communities. The proposed funding will reduce the current waiting list.

    In addition to new proposed funding, Governor Walz’ budget proposes a one-time transfer of $2 million from the Rental Rehab Development Program to the Workforce Housing Development Program.  Minnesota Housing’s rational for the transfer is that the pace of new housing construction is not keeping pace with household growth, which could impede economic growth and job creation. The Workforce Housing Development Program funds new rental housing options and is available exclusively to smaller to mid-size communities in Greater Minnesota – communities that do not typically receive funding from other new construction programs. The program has no income limits and prioritizes applications with the highest percentage of market rate units. 

    After the transfer, the RRDL program will still have $5.5M for the next biennium. Last year with the RRDL program, Minnesota Housing partnered with USDA to rehab 21 projects (544 units).

    MHP applauds Governor Walz for these investments in housing. These investments speak to the broad number of challenges impacting families, including housing stability and paths to homeownership. With these investments, Minnesota can expand access and opportunity by producing desperately needed homes, preserve and improve the homes we have, and prevent displacement and homelessness by supporting under-resourced renters.

    RobynLingen

  • MHP Update features state lawmakers, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, NLIHC

    MHP’s Deputy Policy Director, Libby Murphy, gives this recap of MHP’s State and Federal Legislative Update from Jan. 22.

     

    As part of Minnesota Housing Partnership’s (MHP) biweekly state and federal legislative update series, MHP heard from Representatives Kaohly Her (DFL, 64A) and Aisha Gomez (DFL, 62B), community leader Melanie Benjamin, as well as National Low Income Housing Coalition’s Vice President of Public Policy, Sarah Saadian.

    State Update
    House Majority Whip Kaohly Her and Chair of the newly formed Preventing Homelessness Division, Rep. Aisha Gomez, joined MHP to discuss their housing priorities for the 2021 legislative session.

    Rep. Her emphasized her support for housing policy calling it the “center of the intersection” of education, healthcare, and job opportunities. Rep. Her discussed her previous support for housing bills in the last biennium and laid out her current priorities. Some of these priorities from the last biennium carried over to his legislative session and include tenant protection, repealing certain requirements around housing tax credits, and appropriating money for housing mediation for eviction protection. When asked how we ensure that we don’t move forward in this legislative session with a deficit mindset, Rep. Her explained that since costs are inevitable, it is best that the bill is footed on the front end. Rather than spending money on the back end through emergency shelters, emergency medical care for unhoused folks, and other emergency sources, Rep. Her explained that providing affordable housing from the beginning is much more fiscally sound and easier to achieve.

    Rep. Gomez, who is also in her second term of the Minnesota House, reiterated many of Rep. Her’s points. Rep. Gomez  said she hopes that with recent increased visibility of those experiencing homelessness, resources can be brought to serve those communities. Speaking on homelessness, Rep. Gomez explained that it is undoubtedly the result of “policy choices and benign neglect.” Rep. Gomez said she hoped that she can listen to folks facing these issues with her newly created committee in order to properly respond to their concerns. This, along with tenant protection, investing in public housing, increasing access to homeownership for BIPOC Minnesotans, and addressing the eviction crisis (especially affecting BIPOC communities) are all on Rep. Gomez’ list of priorities this legislative session. Rep. Gomez was also asked how we ensure that we don’t move forward in this legislative session with a deficit mindset. Rep. Gomez emphasized the importance of not buying into the idea that we don’t have enough money to allocate to these much-needed policy efforts; she further explained that coming into a legislative session with a deficit mindset will almost always result in budget cuts on the “backs of our communities” (BIPOC, children, those in poverty). 

    Community Perspective
    Melanie Benjamin, Chief Executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, spoke about some of the unique challenges faced by Indigenous communities. Since the 1990s, the Mille Lacs Band has focused on providing more housing opportunities for members on and off reservation land. Despite working closely with HUD, the Band received limited investments and was only able to build five houses per year. That pace was not keeping up with demand so Band leadership decided to allocate a percentage of its revenue to housing, which gave the Band an opportunity to provide low-interest mortgage loans to members. Despite these efforts, many members struggled to get loans to help build new housing because they could not secure conventional loans for property built or held on trust land. These barriers have contributed to the fact that the Mille Lacs Band has over 300 people on its housing waiting list. In an effort to serve as many members as possible, the Mille Lacs Band has often focused its homeownership efforts on building and owning property off of reservation land. Chief Executive Benjamin said she hopes new legislation from U.S. Senator Tina Smith that passed in December will help address some of the Tribe’s issues with securing loans and mortgages.

    Chief Executive Benjamin also highlighted how a negative relationship with a county can have hugely consequential impacts on the tribal governments. A negative law enforcement agreement led to significant issues that have created additional barriers and diverted resources for the Mille Lacs Band.

    Federal Update

    Sarah Saadian, Vice President of Public Policy at the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) gave an optimistic prediction for what to expect in the coming weeks and months from Biden Administration. Sarah emphasized that Biden’s first focus will be too undue damage done to fair housing and civil rights. While one of Biden’s first actions was to extend the eviction moratorium, Sarah mentioned that NLIHC will continue to work with the CDC to improve upon the existing moratoriums shortfalls.

    NLIHC also anticipate adjustments to the guidance on $25 billion in emergency rental assistance (ERA) program that passed in December. arah noted that NLIHC sent a letter to U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Designate Marcia Fudge outlining concerns with the Trump Administration’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on the ERA program. ERA allocations are expected to go out to states and local governments this week. NLIHC and other, including MHP, are concerned that the Trump guidelines require burdensome documentation and other barriers that will make it difficult to serve lowest income rents and will slow down the rollout of these funds.

    Sarah also noted that things are moving quickly on another COVID relief package. Biden’s proposal would spend another $25 billion on rental assistance, $5 billion on utility assistance, and $5 billion on homelessness assistance. NLIHC will push the administration and Congress to support an additional $28 billion in ongoing vouchers and support an acquisition fund to create more permanent affordable housing as part of the next relief package.

    Even more long term, NLIHC is optimistic that the Biden Administration will be able pass funding for universal vouchers, which was included in the Biden campaign platform. Sarah underscored the COVID pandemic makes clear the gaps in safety net programs that need to be fixed so the country is better prepared for future disasters.  Additionally, NLIHC will prioritize major investments infrastructure to build more and preserve homes. A budget process known as Budget Reconciliation would allow the U.S. Senate to pass a budget with a simple majority (51 votes) vs the standard 60 votes.

    RobynLingen

  • MHP’s 2021 Legislative Agenda

    This session, MHP will use its resources and network to advocate lawmakers to increase investments in housing stability by adequately funding emergency and ongoing housing assistance programs; investing in programs that preserve existing affordable homes and add new units; and strengthening laws to support renters access affordable housing.

    Housing Stability

    The COVID pandemic has exacerbated many households’ housings cost burden. Families who were already struggling to afford housing have found themselves’ in greater jeopardy of experiencing homelessness. Throughout the pandemic, we’ve seen the impact that interventions like emergency housing assistance have had in keeping people in their homes. MHP fought hard to secure $100 million in COVID Housing Assistance Program (CHAP) funds.  While the Federal government just invested $25 billion in rental assistance, we know the Minnesota Legislature has a role to play in helping households that will not qualify under the Federal program.

    The Solutions

    • Emergency Housing Assistance. MHP is working with State lawmakers to understand gaps in assistance provided by the latest round of Federal relief. We support additional investments to renters and homeowners to pay rents, mortgages, insurance payments, HOA fees, utilities and other housing related costs.
    • Eviction Moratorium. MHP believes safe, stable and affordable housing is critical to public health. Therefore, MHP continues to support efforts to ensure every Minnesotan has a home in which they can safely adhere to government restrictions and recommendations. Additionally, MHP recognizes that Minnesotans experiencing job or income loss did so due to no fault of their own.  The eviction moratorium, coupled with housing assistance has proven to keep households healthy and support students. In fact, research increasingly shows that areas with moratoriums have lower morbidity and mortality from COVID 19 than areas that do not. 
    • Bring it Home Campaign. The pandemic highlights the importance of comprehensive and permanent rental assistance program for all income qualifying Minnesotans. MHP supports this bold, visionary campaign.

     

    • Manufactured Home Park Opportunity to Purchase and NOAH Acquisition. MHP supports strategies to help affordable housing providers and residents acquire and preserve their homes. An Opportunity to Purchase law for manufactured home parks will help residents of parks purchase and convert their parks into cooperatively owned entities.  Displacement caused by the loss of Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing has devastating and long-term consequences for households. Acquisition funds to help purchase, preserve the affordability, and improve the quality of these homes is critical to ending alarming trends in displacement.

    Preserving the Homes We Have and Creating New Opportunities

    MHP continues to prioritize preservation and production. Annually, Minnesota continues to lose more affordable housing than it creates. Households below 50 percent of area median income are most impacted by displacement. And, the market produces the fewest new units for households at these incomes. Households struggling to find affordable housing often settle for poor quality housing and experience the highest rates of cost burden, overcrowding, evictions, and episodes of homelessness. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color households are disproportionately impacted by the inadequate stock of truly affordable homes.

    The Solutions

    • Local Housing Trust Funds. MHP continues to advocate for the one-time appropriation of state matching funds to incentivize local communities to establish and dedicate funds into affordable housing trust funds. These powerful local tools were endorsed in the 2018 Governor’s Housing Task Force report and Governor Walz’ FY20-21 budget.
    • 4d. MHP believes that by simplifying and reducing the classification rate for affordable housing properties, the State  can help housing providers reinvest in existing properties and better leverage private equity to produce more homes or better leverage state resources to create more deeply affordable units. This change will help preserve existing affordable housing stock by lessening the economic pressures that currently drive the conversion of many affordable units into market-rate status.
    • Bonding. Bonds are Minnesota’s single greatest tool to create the most deeply affordable units. MHP will continue to work in coalition with Homes for All to secure additional bonding resources.
    • Tax Credit Contribution Fund. MHP continues to advocate for a state affordable housing tax credit. The Minnesota Legislature must do more to incentivize the donation of cash, land and property to support preservation and new production. Adding land and property donations to our cash donation credit proposal will help preserve or repurpose distressed assets into affordable homes.

    Improving Access and Opportunity

    Low-income renters face a variety of challenges to securing safe, decent and affordable housing. Households with non-traditional incomes like Section 8 vouchers or other forms of housing assistance many times struggle to utilize their assistance because some landlords refuse to accept it. Often the denial of housing based on income serves as a pretext for discrimination, disproportionately affecting renters of color, women and persons with disabilities.

    The Solutions:

    • Prohibit Source of Income Discrimination. Minnesota needs to amend its Human Rights Act to clarify that housing discrimination based on a person’s source of income is illegal.
    • Eviction Expungement Reform. Reforming Minnesota’s eviction reporting and expungement laws would give tenants opportunities to remedy their situations before an eviction is recorded and more easily secure an expungement, especially in cases of dismal or in cases where an eviction is not a reasonable predictor of future tenant behavior.

    Download and view the 2021 Policy Agenda factsheet here.  

     

     

    RobynLingen

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  • Minnesota Housing Partnership Receives $2.4 Million HUD Grant to Assist Rural and Native Community Development

    Minnesota Housing Partnership (MHP) has received a crucial grant to assist rural and Native leaders in solving housing and community development issues in their communities. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Rural Capacity Building for Community Development and Affordable Housing Grant program (RCB) will provide $2.4 million to continue MHP’s important technical assistance and capacity-building work. 

    The award will fund MHP’s Strengthening Rural Communities (SRC) program, which gives leaders the tools and knowledge they need to identify and address regional development needs through strategic collaboration. 

    In rural and Native communities nationwide, there’s a significant gap between the supply of affordable housing and the number of people who need it, and a pressing need to address community development challenges. Providing resources and guidance to local and Tribal governments and other rural housing development organizations has proven an effective model of helping local communities address these needs.

    “Minnesota Housing Partnership is ready to put this funding to work immediately in rural and tribal communities,” said Anne Mavity, MHP’s executive director. “We are thrilled that the Department of Housing and Urban Development has committed these funds to help our communities thrive.”

    MHP has used past awards to provide technical assistance to rural communities in 17 states, including 20 Native nations. Past funding has resulted in hundreds of new and preserved units of affordable housing, and dozens of community and economic development projects in communities that need it most.

    “MHP helped Lower Sioux’s Planning & Grants Department identify a new funder for an upcoming rental construction project. They then sat down with us to teach us how to complete the intensive 15-year feasibility projections and they reviewed our proposal draft,” said Nora Murphy, Tribal Planner and Grant Writer for the Lower Sioux Indian Community. “In the end, we were awarded two grants to build 10 new rental homes at Lower Sioux. We simply couldn’t have done it without MHP’s guidance. Many, many thanks!”

    Funds will be awarded to eligible entities through a Request for Technical Assistance process that will be announced in the next few weeks and that will be posted here.

    RobynLingen