Beacon Housing: Updates on Housing Bills

Sustain the Gain: Funding for Supportive Housing

Beacon is making significant progress on their two-part strategy to stabilize supportive housing. Read their highlights below.

Emergency Funding: We are nearing the finish line for a bill that allows Minnesota Housing to release $9 million in existing funds to address the immediate crisis caused by the federal retreat in funding. This bill passed the full House with bipartisan support and is expected to pass the Senate this week.

The $40 Million Ask: We continue to advocate for $40 million in additional funding through the supplemental budget. Governor Walz provided a substantial boost to this effort by proposing $100 million for housing stability in his supplemental budget, which serves as a strong foundation for our ongoing negotiations with the legislature.

Strengthen the State Housing Tax Credit: We recently held a hearing in the House Housing Committee to discuss critical improvements to the State Housing Tax Credit. Our goal is to strengthen this tool by enabling it to fund capitalized service reserves, making supportive housing developments viable and successful.

Our Future Starts at Home: The constitutional amendment to create dedicated, long-term revenue for housing is moving steadily through the Senate. This week marks the third of four required committee hearings before it can move to the Senate floor for a full vote. We are closer than ever to giving Minnesota voters the chance to secure a stable future for our housing system.

Minneapolis & St. Paul Ordinances: Both the Minneapolis and St. Paul City Councils recently considered ordinances to temporarily extend eviction filing deadlines in response to the crisis caused by Operation Metro Surge. Beacon joined 13 other nonprofit housing providers in urging council members to prioritize emergency rental assistance over changes to eviction timelines. Our collective experience shows that extending these timelines often leads to worse outcomes for residents, resulting in larger debt balances and higher eventual eviction rates.

While we recognize that this position may seem counterintuitive given the urgency of the crisis, we believe the most effective solution is robust emergency rental assistance. We support the emergency rental assistance included in the Governor’s proposed budget through the Family Homelessness Assistance and Prevention Program.

For more information about Beacon, visit beaconinterfaith.org.