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Capitol View®
Catharine Richert

After sprinkler battle, builders fight back

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The political arm of the Builders Association of the Twin Cities is putting dollars behind their frustration over a new requirement that homes larger than 4,500 square feet include indoor sprinklers.

According to finance reports from Homes First, the building group's political fund, $144,530 has been put into mailers and ads meant to help candidates the group believes will support their views in the 2015 legislative session.

One of the organization's largest buys is a $62,000 web campaign targeting Gov. Mark Dayton, who supported the mandate.

Builders Association of the Twin Cities executive director David Seigel said that the sprinkler issue is an important one. But more broadly, he said the Legislature and the Dayton administration have ignored their concerns about other building regulations, which Seigel says are among the strictest in the country.

"Candidly, we are very frustrated with our governor," he said. Seigel said new energy code requirements, park fees and other building mandates get expensive and deter people from buying new homes.

"Any one of these things, you say, 'Well, OK. That's just one thing.' The problem is you stack all these things on top of each other," Seigel said.

Though the group's Dayton ad was expensive, it's primary focus this year will be on helping a handful of Republican candidates for the Minnesota House, including Stacey Stout who is running in a hotly contested race against DFL incumbent Rep. Peter Fischer in the Maplewood area.

This year represents a shift in strategy from 2012, when Housing First spent about $53,000 to help legislative candidates. That year, the group also made a $7,500 contribution to WIN Minnesota, a group that raised hundreds of thousands to help a host of DFL candidates take control of the state Capitol.