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Committee lays over bill creating a locally owned housing revolving loan fund with $10 million seed appropriation
Summary
House File 2,148 would create a Minnesota Housing Finance Agency revolving loan fund to support locally owned, permanently affordable housing owned at least 75% by the sponsoring municipality for 50 years. An A1 amendment set the initial appropriation at $10 million; the committee adopted A1 and laid the bill over.
Representative Ekbaje (bill author) presented House File 2,148 to establish a locally owned housing revolving loan fund at the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA). The fund would make loans to cities, counties and local community development agencies to develop and preserve permanently affordable housing owned by a local public entity.
Nut graf: Proponents said locally owned housing—sometimes called social or publicly‑owned housing—can be self‑sustaining by mixing market‑rate and subsidized rents and using revolving funds to preserve affordability in perpetuity. The bill requires municipal ownership of at least a 75 percent stake and a 50‑year ownership term in the current draft; an A1 amendment specifies a $10,000,000 initial seed appropriation. The committee adopted the A1 amendment and laid the bill over for possible inclusion.
Testimony described county examples. Farhan Badel, a Dakota County renter who obtained a locally owned unit, said the model made a difference for his family. Melissa Taphorn said Washington County CDA owns and operates locally controlled housing and would use state seed capital to scale a self‑sustaining portfolio. Lucas Frankel (LiUNA) and others testified in favor, emphasizing permanent affordability and workforce stability.
Actions: Representative Ekbaje moved A1 (setting the appropriation to $10 million); the committee adopted A1 by voice vote. Representative Ekbaje moved to lay HF 2,148, as amended, over; the committee laid the bill over for possible inclusion.
Ending: Supporters and chairs described the proposal as a pilotable, scalable model to add permanently affordable units and preserve existing supply; fiscal constraints were noted but did not prevent the committee from laying the bill over.
