Defying frigid -18 degree temperatures, more than a hundred housing advocates and legislative champions came together at the Minnesota State Capitol for the 3rd Annual Start with Home Rally last week. With colorful signs and energetic calls to action, the group urged state lawmakers to prioritize legislation that saves and creates more homes, expands housing access and opportunity, and secures predictable housing investments.

Like past years, the Start with Home Rally showcased how safe, stable, affordable housing is a bi-partisan issue. Legislative champions from both sides of the aisle addressed the crowd, including: Governor Walz, Lt. Governor Flanagan, Sen. Port, Rep. Igo, Sen. Boldon, Sen. Marty, Sen. Draheim, Sen. Kunesh, and Sen. Johnson Stewart.

“Housing is stability, and it is absolutely critical to Minnesota’s infrastructure,” says MCCD’s Executive Director, Elena Gaarder. “We know that children and families do better when they have a safe and stable place to call home. That’s why we need increased investments in Housing Infrastructure Bonds and across the housing continuum this year and every year after.

Addressing the crowd in the Capitol rotunda, Senator Lindsay Port, chair of the Senate Housing and Homelessness Prevention Committee, echoed that sentiment and emphasized the need to build on the big investments made in 2023. “I’m so proud that, when we had the opportunity, we put over $2 billion total into housing,” Port said. “Now, even though we have a different economic outlook, we cannot stop advocating for housing to be one of the top priorities of this Legislature.”

Along with our coalition partners, we’re pressing this legislature to pass $400 million in Housing Infrastructure Bonds (HIBs) to build and preserve affordable housing, reduce homelessness and stabilize communities. Right now, more than 640,000 Minnesota households pay more than 30% of their income on housing — and more than half of those who are unhoused say they are homeless because they could not find an affordable place to live. But while HIBs are the largest state source of capital for affordable housing development and preservation, only 1 in 5 projects that apply for resources from the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency are funded.

Despite the urgent need for more investment, Governor Walz’s 2025 Infrastructure Plan did not recommend any new authorizations in HIBs. We responded last week with a letter that underscored: “We believe not proposing even $50 million in HIBs sets a bad precedent. State lawmakers may interpret that to mean that our affordable housing market is sufficient and stable, when we all know that is not the truth. We can’t go backward; Minnesotans are depending on us to keep them safely and stably housed.”

While it’s off to an uncertain start, the 2025 legislative session is just beginning and the rally was a great sign of the broad support for housing — across the state and political spectrum. But it will take all of us working together to secure the resources we need to make sure every Minnesotan has a place to call home. We’re hoping to schedule a hearing in the Senate for the HIBs bill in mid-February and will continue to encourage the Governor’s office to expand their 2025 Infrastructure Plan to include HIBs. If you or your organization is interested in sharing your insight at an upcoming hearing or advocating to the Governor’s office, please reach out to me at klaw@mccdmn.org.

As a consortium, we know that our advocacy is stronger when we leverage our collective power. Thank you to our Start with Home rally co-host organizations: Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, Habitat for Humanity Minnesota, Minnesota Housing Partnership, and Our Future Starts at Home Campaign. We look forward to building off the momentum of the rally to ensure that Minnesota starts with home this session.