Bipartisan housing plan still remains priority despite divided state Legislature

EMILY BRIGHT: Well, week two of an unusual Minnesota legislative session is underway, with a struggle over power still gripping the Capitol. Republicans in the House continue to hold floor sessions while Democrats continue to boycott, as court decisions late last week pushed a House special election into March.

But let's rewind a moment. Last legislative session, a unique bipartisan coalition formed to combat housing affordability-- to make housing more affordable. Chaired by DFLers Representative Mike Howard and Senator Lindsey Ports, the committee had strong bipartisan support, including from House Republican Whip Representative Jim Nash, who has been working on housing legislation for more than 10 years.

Two of the bills that received very strong bipartisan support had to do with city zoning reform. But lobbying by city governments, especially in the suburbs, tanked those bills. With so much left unfinished last session and with this session's power balance still in limbo, how will that committee work together in this House?

Joining us to answer that question is Republican House Whip Representative Jim Nash, who serves on the Housing and Finance Committee. He was one of the co-authors of the zoning bill in the House last session. Thank you for being here.

JIM NASH: Thanks for having me.

EMILY BRIGHT: And also on the line is Representative Mike Howard, another co-author of that zoning bill and top-ranking Democrat on the Housing Finance and Policy Committee. Thank you for joining us today.

MIKE HOWARD: Thanks. Glad to be here.

EMILY BRIGHT: Now, before we get into housing policy, can we just get an update on where one house, the Minnesota House, stands a week into the session, Representative Nash?

JIM NASH: Yeah well, today, I held a committee hearing and moved a bill out of committee, House File 3. And I anxiously await when my DFL colleagues return. But at the moment, they have not come to the Capitol. And I really hope that they decide that they would like to come to work.

EMILY BRIGHT: Representative Howard, your response?

MIKE HOWARD: Yeah, thank you. And maybe Representative Nash and I can help us break through some gridlock right now.

EMILY BRIGHT: [LAUGHS]

MIKE HOWARD: Democrats are ready to get to work, but unfortunately, my Republican friends are threatening to throw out a duly-elected member of our House, Representative Tabke, who won an election, won a recount, and had the courts hold that election up.

As soon as Republicans are willing to say, "Yeah, we think that's a bad look. We're not going to throw out a member that won an election," I think Democrats will be ready to get to work. And the issue we're talking about today is a great reason why.

EMILY BRIGHT: Representative Nash, what do you hope to see get done in terms of housing legislation this year?

JIM NASH: Well, thanks for the question. I think you alluded to it in the beginning. There is a need for some regulatory reform that, as you had pointed out, the municipal groups tanked this last session. And if we are to be able to get past the 106,000 housing units that were undersupplied here in the state of Minnesota, we simply have to make it easier to build things like starter homes.

And there is a great many opponents from the municipal groups that don't recognize that we have to change some of the regulation if we're going to see any growth in the housing sector. And to make that more poignant, as a dad with kids who are of that age where they might start building a home and then, one day, put grandchildren in it for my wife and myself--

EMILY BRIGHT: [LAUGHS] I heard that.

JIM NASH: Yeah, and we have to be able to have an expectation that they'll be able to buy a house in the state or city that they grew up in. And right now, that's just a pipe dream.

EMILY BRIGHT: Yeah, and Representative Howard?

MIKE HOWARD: Yeah, I couldn't agree more with Representative Nash. And the thing is, when you talk to Minnesotans, this really isn't an issue that breaks down on partisan lines. Whether you're talking to a young family who's trying to buy a home for the first time, someone just out of college trying to afford a place to rent, or seniors trying to downsize, everyone's telling us the same thing-- we can't find a home in the community we want, or it's just too dang expensive. And they're right.

The good thing is, though, we do have solutions that we started down the path last year, and even before, and solutions in some cities that are leading on this. There are things we can do to jumpstart the kinds of homes that Minnesotans want. And the only thing else I'd say is we have to start now and understand the urgency.

As Representative Nash mentioned, 100,000 units of housing short. In 2018, a report said we were 50,000 units short. So just in a few years, that's doubled. So we're on borrowed time here. We got to get with the program and jumpstart the creation of more homes.

EMILY BRIGHT: With some of the power balances and House uncertain, I'm curious to hear from both of you how you plan to move forward on what we've stated is an issue that affects everyone, once all of this is sorted out in court. Representative Howard, I'll start with you this time.

MIKE HOWARD: Well, first, what I'd say is, after we moved this agenda forward last session in a bipartisan way, we kept working after last session and have had many conversations and productive ones.

And after this election delivered a 67-67 tie, Representative Nash and I, along with Representative Igo and Senate members, have had really strong, constructive conversations about how are we going to lead together. How are we going to move this work forward and get bills passed into law? And I really think this is a golden opportunity to do just that.

And so it is a contentious space right now and an unprecedented session. But that hasn't stopped our ability to continue having conversations and get prepared to move what Minnesotans expect us to do, legislation that's going to help us build more homes.

EMILY BRIGHT: Representative Nash?

JIM NASH: Yeah, I think Mike has a lot of the points right. We have been working together. And I think I look forward to when they return, and we can begin doing the good work that we need to do.

But the alliance, if you will, of people who are pro-housing cuts across multiple schools of thought. We have very conservative Republicans, moderate Republicans, moderate Democrats, and progressive Democrats all recognizing that this is a crisis, that through regulatory reform, we can actually begin to solve it. So again, I look forward to having Representative Howard and his colleagues back, and we can begin the good work that we need to do.

EMILY BRIGHT: Yeah. Representative Nash, I know research shows that decades of zoning policies that prioritize single-family homes created racial and economic segregation in cities around the country. So, briefly, how can amending zoning laws around the state create more housing?

JIM NASH: Yeah, well, I'll share a story that I've shared before, and then I'm going to have to go here soon. But I was in the state of Texas, and I visited a housing development that they had there. And it was multiracial folks living there. I drove around. I spent time watching it. The houses were built on smaller lots, and they were smaller homes. If we legalize starter homes and make it more achievable for people, we're going to solve that problem.

EMILY BRIGHT: OK, and Representative Howard, you said last year, the reason some of these zoning bills didn't get passed is because your coalition ran out of time to have extensive conversations with lawmakers and city leaders and really provide that in-depth understanding of what these bills do. So are these zoning bills ones that you plan to take up again in this session? And if so, briefly, what do you plan to do differently?

MIKE HOWARD: Exactly right. I mean, I think last year, we got about an inch deep, and we needed to get maybe about a foot. And we've kept working with our colleagues and stakeholders. And so the bills we plan to introduce this year on a bipartisan basis will be modified. They'll be reflective of feedback we've heard from all of our stakeholders and really, frankly, be stronger bills at getting to the solutions we need.

One strategic difference, rather than seeing one or two large bills, you're likely to see six, seven, eight, nine bills move forward as part of our agenda, some of which are on topics where cities, through our work and conversations, brought good ideas to us. And so we're also trying to create a dynamic that feels a little bit more like we're in this together.

We're pulling in the same direction because, truly, to address our housing shortage, we are going to need every level of government, public sector or private sector, pulling in the same direction. So I feel very optimistic that we got the train moving last session. And it's just kept up picking momentum as we head into 2025.

EMILY BRIGHT: Well, gentlemen, I want to thank you both for your time today.

MIKE HOWARD: Thank you.

JIM NASH: Thank you so much.

EMILY BRIGHT: That was Republican Representative Jim Nash and DFL Representative Mike Howard.