Bonding bill will include affordable housing - Thank you advocates!

Update: Advocacy Continues ...

In the Final speeches on the House Floor the Housing Advocates were recognized by Rep. Hausman for our continuous advocacy work to ensure that Housing was included in the final bill (View it here). Once the final vote Passed and Legislators left the House Chambers several more greeted us with gratitude as we were encouraged to continue being citizen advocates, to continue fighting to end poverty housing and making housing a priority. The $37.5 million will be spent quickly as it only meets a portion of the need in Minnesota and we were encouraged to come back again next session to request more funding to continue to do our great work.  We will heed this great advice and are already planning our work for the summer around educating candidates and voters alike about what the needs for housing in Minnesota are and how we all can be part of the solution.

Original post:

A big thank you goes out to housing advocates!  It is you who made the difference! Housing is in the bonding bill!

After weeks of the bonding bill being tossed around, both the House and the Senate passed the bill on Monday, but not without lengthy debate and numerous amendment proposals.  Members went back and forth about projects that should and should not be in the bill, but housing got a special mention. Representative Alice Hausman (DFL – 66B) acknowledged housing advocates during the floor debate, noting that their hard work has made an impact this session. “They have been here every day. I’m voting yes,” she said.  Representative Frank Hornstein (DFL – 60B) also said he was glad to see housing in the bill. See Alice Hausman’s thank you to housing advocates here.

The Senate did end up passing the bill with two amendments ($500,000 to rebuild a flood wall in South St. Paul and $2 million for Tubman Center East). Since the House adjourned without taking action on the amended Senate version, a final vote was necessary on Tuesday afternoon. The House passed the amended version and now the bill heads to Gov. Dayton.

However, a Star Tribune article that ran Tuesday morning contained a myriad of inaccurate information, including stating that housing was left out. This is untrue and is based on an earlier version of the spreadsheet which only listed general obligation bonds (and did not include the housing infrastructure bonds). The current number for housing in the bonding bill stands at $35.5 million -- $37.5 million with the addition of Tubman Center East, an organization that helps provide shelter to families in need, including affordable transitional apartments. These numbers are great news for housing advocates and for those who need an affordable place to call home.

Again, thank you to all who called or wrote your legislators, participated in Action Alerts, came to Habitat on the Hill and all who contributed to the housing discussion. Without your voices, this would not have been possible. 

Brittany Richardson, Advocacy Intern, Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity

Were you involved in the affordable housing debate this year? Leave a comment below!