Legislative Update - Our Housing Bill

Dear Neighbors, 

We’ve been spending long hours on the House floor this week, passing our supplemental budgets that support last year's historic investments, along with some important stand-alone legislation. We’re passing a lot of great bills, and I might be a little biased, but I’m especially proud of the supplemental budget and policies that we passed for Housing. 

Our Housing Bill is additive to our great work last session, where we invested over $1 billion in preventing homelessness and providing a pathway to an affordable home, but one good year of legislation doesn’t erase Minnesota’s housing crisis.

This year, we focused on housing stability, making the largest impact for the Minnesotans who are most in need. We’re providing emergency rental assistance, keeping senior housing affordable, and supporting $50 million in Housing Infrastructure Bonds to build more homes.

Last session, we passed the most significant commitment to addressing Minnesota’s housing crisis in state history, creating housing stability for Minnesota families on the brink of homelessness through new state-based housing vouchers, spurring the production of new homes across the state, and delivering pathways to homeownership for thousands of Minnesotans.

This year, House DFLers are investing $8.8 million in Family Homelessness Prevention and Assistance, a fast, efficient option to get resources like rental assistance out to those most in need. You can read about this program and more in this summary of our bill. 

Gun Violence Prevention

Last session, we listened to Minnesotans who told us that inaction was not an acceptable option when it came to gun violence prevention. We passed legislation establishing red flag laws and criminal background checks - important bills that make our communities safer.

The tragedy in Burnsville this year that resulted in the loss of three public safety officers was a stark reminder that there was still more for us to do. Over the week we passed a slate of bills that will continue to reduce gun violence in Minnesota. Our bills require the safe storage of firearms, require the report of missing firearms, crack down on straw purchasing, and ban binary triggers. 

I’m proud to have voted for each one of these critical bills that will save lives.

Our Supplemental Budget Bills

Our Housing Bill was far from the only supplemental budget bill we passed this week. We’re still debating on the House Floor, but so far we’ve passed:

• A broadly bipartisan bill investing $240 million in our outdoors, clean water, parks and trails, and cultural heritage from the Legacy Amendment fund.
• A K-12 Education bill that boosts resources for the READ Act to improve literacy, moves forward solutions for student wellbeing, and enhances support for teachers.
• An Environment and Natural Resources bill with new investments in tree planting, improving air quality, holding repeat polluters accountable, and tackling solid waste and recycling.
• A Children and Families bill that reforms our child protection system and builds on historic investments in economic support for families, food security, and emergency shelter.
• A Transportation and Labor bill, which includes our Housing legislation, that invests in railroad safety and public transit, and enhances worker rights and safety.

With more to come! As the Senate passes their own similar but slightly different proposals in these areas, legislators will meet in conference committees in our remaining weeks to craft consensus legislation that’ll pass each chamber one final time before being sent to Governor Walz.

With the legislature required to adjourn by May 20th, this’ll take up the remainder of our work here in St. Paul. 

Stay Connected

With only a couple weeks left of the legislative session, please continue to reach out with any questions, comments, concerns, or ideas you have for our work in the Minnesota House. Always feel free to email me at rep.michael.howard@house.mn.gov or give my office a call at 651-296-7158.

You can also stay up to date by following my official Facebook page, subscribing to these regular email updates if you haven’t already, and checking my legislative webpage for the latest information from my office. 

In partnership, 

Michael Howard