Legislative Session Ends With Little Progress on Housing

With no agreement in place at the end of session, housing legislative language and proposals that had been in play in the Housing Omnibus Bill, were left behind.

Despite the past week being full of long nights and tough negotiations from legislative leaders, the state legislature failed to pass any meaningful supplemental legislation by last Sunday at midnight, which was the constitutional deadline to adjourn.

Governor Tim Walz, House Speaker Melissa Hortman, and Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller announced a framework agreement earlier last week in hopes of utilizing the largest state surplus in state history.

The agreement would have enacted one of the largest tax cuts in state history at approximately $4 billion worth of cuts and added $4 billion worth of spending to programs across government programs, including $1 billion in education. The three leaders had asked the chairs and commissioners to work on the finer details of the legislative language.

On the housing side of the debate, both the House and Senate chambers worked on their own respective versions of a housing omnibus bills. Omnibus bills are collections of smaller bills covering an array of legislative topics.

The Housing Omnibus Bill in the House, for example, also included agriculture and broadband provisions. The House DFL’s bill focuses on state appropriations for different housing programs and numerous changes to landlord-tenant law.

The Senate also debated their own version of their Housing Omnibus Bill. The bill included provisions that would prohibit cities from mandating a planned unit development (PUD) if the proposed residential development complies with the existing zoning ordinances, subdivision, regulation, or qualifies as a conditional use.

The use of PUDs artificially raises the price of newly built homes by regularly requiring larger homes on larger lots; effectively pricing out many buyers from being able to afford these desperately needed new homes.

But the Senate GOP and House DFL were unable to bridge the rather large gaps between their respective omnibus bills. With no agreement in place at the end of session, housing legislative language and proposals that had been in play, were left behind.

Now, Minnesota homebuyers will continue to feel the pinch of record-low inventory and high median sales prices.