Minnesota Housing officials tell Senate committee they moved nearly $2 billion in FY2024 and are implementing 2023 program investments

Minnesota Housing Commissioner Jennifer Ho told the Senate Committee on Housing and Homelessness Prevention that the agency moved just under $2 billion in federal fiscal 2024 to assist more than 73,600 households and is actively implementing multiple programs the Legislature funded in 2023.

The update, delivered at a committee meeting that began with member introductions and a remembrance of the late Senator Keri Dziedzic, outlined how the finance agency allocates capital, what it does not do, which newly funded programs are in various stages of rollout, and where the agency still needs time to stand up contracts and RFPs. "Housing is foundational to a full life and a thriving state," Ho told committee members, adding that the agency "equitable[ly] collaborate[s] with individuals, communities, and partners to create, preserve, and finance housing that is affordable." She said, "nobody wants unaffordable housing."

Why it matters: senators on the committee repeatedly framed this briefing as foundational to forthcoming budget negotiations and to local projects that depend on Minnesota Housing financing. Committee members asked detailed questions about timelines, geographic distribution of awards, and specific programs for manufactured-home communities, seniors, and first-time homebuyers.

Major figures and program status

- Agency scale: Ho said Minnesota Housing moved nearly $2 billion in federal fiscal year 2024, assisting more than 73,600 households. By dollars, the agency's largest category was home-buying financing—more than $1.2 billion that served over 5,000 households.

- 2023 appropriations and selections: Ho said Minnesota Housing announced what she called the agency's largest single selection round in December (about $348 million), creating roughly 1,300 homeownership…