The mission of Minnesota Housing Partnership (MHP) is to promote homes for all Minnesotans and assist Minnesota communities in the creation and preservation of housing affordable to low- and moderate-income people.
To achieve its mission, MHP provides a comprehensive array of resources that help local organizations, businesses, communities, and elected officials in Minnesota create homes for all.
MHP's resources include research, advocacy, technical assistance, and financial tools and support. Please contact Rick Bernardo at rick.bernardo@mhponline.org to find out more.
Steve Raukar: Commissioner urges your support for funding that creates jobs
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
March 18 2010
St. Louis County, MN
Our state representatives have a tremendously difficult job ahead of them as they work to balance the deep budget deficit this session. Even while painful cuts are inevitable in many good programs that benefit Minnesotans, lawmakers would do well to preserve as much funding as possible for housing across the state. Funding for housing would help with the severe lack of adequate housing affordable to working people and, at the same time, it would provide sorely needed construction jobs. This is important in areas like ours with high regional unemployment.
Funding for affordable housing puts unemployed construction workers, electricians, carpenters and plumbers back to work. More than half of residential construction workers have been laid off in this recession, more than 10,000 total statewide. Creating jobs for skilled workers also reduces reliance on state-funded safety-net programs and increases much-needed tax revenue to the states and local governments. In fact, some state housing programs that rehab or build housing can return up to half of the state investment through new tax revenues in the first year.
One in eight Minnesota households now pay more than half their income for housing costs. At this level, families often cannot afford essentials such as food and health care. Our lawmakers can help ensure that Minnesota's teachers, health workers, senior on fixed incomes and families do not lose access to housing opportunities at their income levels. The increased stabilization that only decent, affordable housing can provide for struggling families holds incalculable benefit economically and is a flagstone in rebuilding our firm foundation as one of the most livable states in the nation.
With the governor's recent line-item veto of $319 million in shovel-ready construction bonding projects, preserving the existing budget for housing is now even more critical. In this difficult time, we have to make careful and informed choices about how to use our limited resources. Housing is a good investment. In the years to come, even larger deficits are anticipated. We need to fund programs that put Minnesotans back to work. Adequate provisions for affordable housing will increase revenues to the state, so that we can grow into a sustainable, responsible future.
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County Commissioner Steve Raukar chairs both the County Board and the St. Louis County Housing and Redevelopment Authority. Contact him at 262-0200 or raukars@co.st-louis.mn.us
Duluth News Tribune
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