Policy & Advocacy
State Policy & Advocacy
No matter where we live or what we look like, we all need dignified, affordable housing and the financial resources to provide for ourselves and those we love. From the Twin Cities to the Iron Range, our homes and our workplaces are so often the centers of our daily lives — and places we deserve to feel safe, respected and empowered to make decisions that support our goals and dreams.
At MCCD, we convene and mobilize our members to use community development as a tool for racial and economic justice. Because our members are the people and nonprofits on the ground providing housing and business support, we identify how existing programs can work better and where new policies and investments can have the largest impact for BIPOC and low-wealth communities.
We recognize that the state legislature creates important policies and distributes significant resources that play a critical role in what our communities look like — and who has access to housing and economic opportunity across Minnesota. For more than a decade, MCCD has cultivated relationships at the state capitol and listened to our members to elevate and secure state policies, programs and investments that are advancing racial and economic justice in housing and small business development.
2025 State Legislative Priorities
Working in partnership with allied organizations and coalitions, our 2025 Legislative Agenda is informed by the experiences of our members and the people they serve.
- 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.
- Housing Infrastructure Bonds (HIBs) are the largest state source of capital for affordable housing development and preservation but only 1 in 5 projects that apply for resources from the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency are funded.
- We need $400 million in new authorization of HIBs so that essential projects across the entire affordable housing continuum can move forward, including preservation of deeply affordable units and gap financing for homeownership opportunities.
- Used in Greater Minnesota and the metro area, the Challenge Fund is MHFA’s most versatile funding source to create or rehabilitate rental housing or support homeownership for local workforces.
- Leveraging millions of dollars in federal, local, private and philanthropic funds, the program provides stable, affordable housing to support a productive workforce across the state. But only a fraction of multifamily and single-family projects receive any funds and many are awarded less than they applied for.
- We need additional resources so the Challenge Fund can ensure nonprofit affordable housing developers are able to provide stable, dignified homes for thousands of workers in communities across Minnesota.
- Small businesses are the backbone of communities across Minnesota. Entrepreneurs are best set up for success when they are able to navigate the complex landscape of accessing resources and creating internal systems that allow their businesses to grow and thrive.
- The Small Business Assistance Partnerships program contracts with trusted and regionally aligned nonprofits to provide high-quality, free professional business development, education, subject matter expertise and technical assistance services. In 2023 alone, the partnership assisted nearly 16,500 businesses and created or retained more than 20,000 jobs.
- But the program faces a $7.4 million budgetary shortfall in the next biennium. We need to close that gap to continue to propel prosperity for tens of thousands of people across the state.
- From homeowners to affordable housing developers, from individual entrepreneurs to growing small businesses, rising insurance rates and changes in coverage are deeply impacting our communities. A state task force composed of key stakeholders is an essential first step to addressing this critical issue and ensuring that Minnesotans can afford their insurance.
- To ensure that the Cannabis Small Business programs are successful, we need technical changes because of the limited amount of known private and matching funds available for this industry. This includes increasing the loan caps from $50,000 to $75,000 and $150,000 to $200,000 along with other technical changes to support organizations deploying these resources on behalf of the state.
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