Policy & Advocacy
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.
Leveraging the knowledge of our collective, we focus on policies and investment in four key areas:
To create equitable, thriving communities we need effective investments and policies at the federal, state and local levels. Directly informed by the needs and insights of our members, MCCD advocates at the Minnesota legislature and local city halls for solutions that can increase affordable housing and enhance economic development — especially for those who have been denied opportunity in the past.
2025 State Legislative Priorities
- 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.
2025 Local Policy Priorities
For years, MCCD has convened members across the Twin Cities to not only advocate at the Minnesota capitol but work at the local level to ensure those state resources and policies are implemented in equitable and effective ways. We also encourage municipal leaders to craft local budgets that provide adequate dollars for affordable housing and under-invested small businesses, and policies that amplify the power of renters and increase pathways to homeownership for BIPOC and low-wealth communities. Working in partnership with allied organizations and coalitions, our 2025 Local Policy Agenda includes:
- Affordable Housing Trust Funds provide dedicated local revenue for housing. A consistent, flexible resource, these funds help communities leverage public and private resources and jumpstart projects that draw investment and jobs.
- In recent years, the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul have established Affordable Housing Trust Funds to produce, preserve, and protect housing in their jurisdictions.
- To meet the needs of their communities, we are urging Saint Paul to add $11 million to its fund — as well as the flexibility to support renters and downpayment assistance programs.
- In 2023, the Minnesota Legislature approved a new sales tax for housing for metro counties and cities. The new Local Affordable Housing Aid (LAHA) program is projected to raise $48.3 million annually, adding significant new resources for affordable housing across the region.
- We are urging local leaders to seek out and listen to the expertise of community members experiencing housing instability and the recommendations of nonprofit affordable housing developers to determine the most equitable and effective use of these new dollars.
- The Twin Cities metro region has the highest share of low-income cost-burdened renters in the state (86%). The region also has the lowest rate of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) homeownership (47%), and the largest homeownership gap between BIPOC and white households.
- Both Minneapolis and Saint Paul have taken important steps to protect renters from price gouging by passing rent stabilization frameworks or policies.
- We are working with local coalitions and our members to strengthen these and other renter protections, and advance down-payment assistance programs for homeownership opportunities.
- Local investments play a key role in fostering more equitable and sustainable local economies. Through its technical assistance programs for businesses (BTAP), cooperatives (CTAP) and developers (DTAP), Minneapolis has created effective supports for entrepreneurs, community-led projects, and emerging developers of color. We are urging Minneapolis to sustain current levels and other cities to develop and fund similar programs.
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