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Bill would create revolving loan fund to support locally owned, permanently affordable housing
Summary
Senate File 1913 would establish a revolving loan fund at the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency for municipalities to develop, acquire or rehab locally owned housing held in public trust for long-term affordability. Witnesses from counties and housing authorities urged support; amendment A2 was adopted prior to testimony.
Senator Bolden presented Senate File 1913 and an author's (A2) amendment, which the committee adopted before testimony. The bill would create a revolving loan fund at the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA) to provide capital to counties, cities or other local municipal entities for developing, acquiring or rehabilitating locally owned housing. The sponsor described the model as "locally owned housing" in which municipalities keep a majority ownership stake, operate mixed-income portfolios, and preserve affordability long term.
Key features described in testimony: loans would be accessible by local governments, housing could be used for new construction, rehabilitation or acquisition, and the fund aims to support projects where counties or community development agencies own a substantial share (the bill text as presented in committee required at least a 75% ownership stake and an ownership term of at least 50 years). Olmsted County Housing Director Dave Dunn testified about converting a student building to permanent supportive housing in Rochester and said a revolving fund would let counties quickly respond to local market conditions. Melissa Taphorn of Washington County Community Development Agency described a 990-unit locally controlled portfolio in her county and said the fund could help fill gaps private developers will not.
Labor and developer witnesses also supported the proposal. Lucas Franco (LiUNA, representing skilled construction workers) and developer Skip Deschano described the program as a way to ensure permanent affordability, leverage public land and financing, and provide market-rate and deeply affordable units within a self-sustaining model.
The committee laid Senate File 1913 over for possible inclusion; no final appropriation vote occurred at this hearing.
