Jim Roth, executive director of the Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers (MCCD) recently authored an article in Finance and Commerce discussing the proposed state housing tax credit bill. This bill is designed to fund rental housing for low- and moderate-income Minnesotans.

The state credit tax bill, supported by the HousingJobs Campaign, may fit into an end-of-session agreement. Short of passage this year, the legislation is well-positioned for the 2012 session.

The HousingJobs Campaign, spearheaded by MHP and MCCD, has been joined by 41 organizational supporters.

From the Finance and Commerce article:

"Nonprofit housing developers work to lend . . . families a hand by building homes that are within their financial reach. But tax cuts meant to usher in a higher economic tide often come out of the budgets of state programs that are critical in financing production of these homes.

Even so, it is shortsighted for us to presume that our only choices are to cut taxes as a means to spurring private sector growth or to forego these cuts so we can invest in building modestly priced homes for low-income families. This issue can be overcome using policy tools that tie these two goals together. A bill (House File 1319/Senate File 838) proposing creation of the Minnesota Housing Tax Credit has the power to do just that." 

Be sure to read the full article.

For more information about the state housing tax credits, see this previous blog post and MHP’s State Policy and Factsheets.