It's called “All Roads Lead Back to Home”, and its goal is to end youth homelessness, cut racial disparities in home ownership in half, and build and preserve 150,000 homes all within the next 10 years.
State Representative Michael Howard (D- Richfield) is Chair of the Housing Committee and he says it will help families obtain stable housing using a state-based voucher.
“The state-based voucher is to ensure that every family at 30% AMI (or Median Family Income) or below, with a minor child, receives a state-based housing voucher,” says Howard. “That's about 40,000 families across the state, and that would cost roughly $300 to $350 million per year.”
Howard says it is long past time to help Minnesotans who can’t afford housing.
“If our entire state general fund budget were a gallon of water, we would spend a tablespoon on housing,” Howard explains. “That is simply not going to cut it. It’s time that we stop admiring the crisis before us, and start proposing bold, visionary solutions that will actually meet the challenge that will face Minnesotans.”
Lindsey Port (D-Burnsville) is the Housing and Homelessness Prevention Committee Chair in the Minnesota Senate, and she adds that Minnesota is now facing a crisis.
“Housing is the foundation on which we all build our lives, and without it everything else in a person’s life can fall apart,” said Port. “Right now, we are at a crisis point with too many families lacking access to stable housing, making it impossible for thousands of Minnesotans to reach their full potential. That’s why we are proposing a bold plan to rise to this challenge and help those who need it most.”
To end youth homelessness by 2030, the “All Roads Lead Back to Home” plan would infuse $100 million in emergency rental assistance to help Minnesotans who are currently facing a housing crisis, providing rental assistance and housing support for 40,000 families.
According to the DFL proposal, the state would build 150,000 homes over the next ten years. They would utilize Housing Infrastructure Bonds, supporting construction of housing at a range of incomes, allocating $750 million to create or preserve 4,600 new homes. $100 million, through initiatives like the Minnesota Challenge Program, would create 1,200 new homes. $200 million would preserve 4,000-6,000 homes, $125 million in General Obligation Bonds would modernize 10,000 units, and a $100 million investment in local solutions like Local Housing Aid and Local Housing Trust Funds would create 1,500 homes in the communities that need them.
The Republicans in both the Minnesota House and Senate have continued to call for tax relief while criticizing the DFL for increasing spending.
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