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Simply put, the housing market in Greater Minnesota is broken.

Across Greater Minnesota, one of the primary housing needs is market-rate workforce housing. With unemployment rates at historic lows, employers are looking beyond their region to find workers to fill job vacancies. But if housing is unavailable, then those jobs go unfilled with no recourse for our employers. Greater Minnesota simply does not have enough housing stock to accommodate workers and their families.

The Greater Minnesota Partnership works to support investments that aim to reduce the cost of building new housing and revitalizing existing units, as well as ensuring that workers and their families have access to affordable housing.

Our successes from the 2023 session included:

$39 million for the Greater Minnesota Workforce Housing Program to provide grants to finance market rate, multi-family housing.

$8 million for the new Greater Minnesota Housing Public Infrastructure Program, which helps support the public infrastructure upgrades needed for new housing.

$95 million in additional funding for the Challenge program. Around half of the total program funding will go to Greater Minnesota.

2024 GMNP Housing Policy Priorities

At least $20 million for the Greater Minnesota Workforce Housing Grant program in bonding or cash funds.

Reforms to the Housing Tax Increment Financing Program that would remove the income restrictions so that Housing TIF can be a more effective tool for building workforce housing.

Read the full list of 2024 GMNP policy priorities