State Appropriations for Affordable Housing at MHFA
Minnesota NAHRO, in partnership with state affordable housing advocates Homes For All, seeks an increase of $55 million in appropriations for affordable housing and related services to help provide stable housing. Minnesota NAHRO supports additional resources across these programs per biennium (partial list):
• Increase resources for the Challenge Fund by $15 million
• Establish a state match for Local Housing Trust Fund at $10 million
• Support homeless students and highly mobile families by expanding the successful Homework Starts at Home by $4 million
• Increase the Bridges Program by $2 million and the Family Homeless Assistance & Prevention Program (FHPAP) by $4 million
• Fund the Workforce Home Ownership Minnesota at $20 million
Funds Local Tools for Community Revitalization & Job Growth
HRAs play a critical role in their communities to support job growth and lead community revitalization. Minnesota NAHRO supports continued appropriations for the local redevelopment tools and programs including the following:
• Preserve funding for DEED Small Cities programs
• Restore funding to the DEED Redevelopment Grant Program used to address blight and polluted sites
• Support proposed consensus changes to the tax exempt bond allocation in order to use this limited resource more efficiently
• Establish a State Tax Credit Contribution Fund with $50 million to support the development of qualified affordable housing projects
• Reinstate the Renters Credit to manufactured homeowners in resident-owned communities
State Appropriations for Housing Stability at DHS
Housing instability and homelessness contribute to poorer health, educational, and workforce outcomes while the lack of affordable housing stifles economic development. Minnesota NAHRO, in partnership with state affordable housing advocates Homes For All, seeks an increase of $25 million in appropriations for investments in the following DHS housing program with support services to address the rising level of homelessness in Minnesota (increase for the biennium):
• Address the lack of Emergency Shelter with an investment of $15 million
• Increase the Housing Supports for Long Term Homeless (formerly known as Group Residential Housing) by $4 million
• Expand the Homeless Youth Act by $2 million
• Ensure the necessary support services to address homelessness including a $2 million increase million for Supportive Housing for those with mental illness and $1.8 million for Long-term Homeless program
$100 Million for GO Bonds for Public Housing Rehabilitation
Minnesota NAHRO, in partnership with state affordable housing advocates Homes For All, seeks $100 million in general obligation bonds to finance public housing rehabilitation projects. This proposal will help create jobs in the residential construction sector by
funding rehabilitation projects for the state’s aging public housing system. Public housing in Minnesota provides safe and affordable housing to:
• 36,000 low-income households including 64% which are headed by seniors or those with disabilities. One-third of public housing residents are children, any of whom are at high risk of homelessness or recently homeless
• GO bonds proceeds will be used to address health and safety issues, replace and repair major systems and for energy conservation measures to reduce operating costs of public housing unites owned and operated by the 120 public housing authorities across the state.
$200 Million for Housing Infrastructure Bonds
Minnesota NAHRO along with Homes For All
seeks $200 million in housing infrastructure bonds (HIB) to address affordable housing infrastructure needs in communities throughout the state. The housing infrastructure bonds are appropriations bonds which will be used to:
• Preserve existing federally subsidized rental housing
• Construct, acquire or rehabilitate permanent supportive housing, particularly for persons experiencing or at risk of experiencing long-term homelessness
• Finance the development of affordable senior housing for households at or below 50% area median income (AMI)
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