St. Cloud Lawmakers Honored With Housing Award

(KNSI) – Two St. Cloud area lawmakers have been honored for their work on housing at the state capitol.

Representative Tama Theis and Representative Shane Mekeland are the recipients of the 2021 Housing Leadership Award by Housing First Minnesota.

Theis serves as the Republican Lead on the House Housing Finance and Policy Committee.

“Housing is a big passion of mine. When you look at outstate Minnesota, especially Greater Minnesota, we need housing, period. And I feel like we don’t look at some of the out-of-the-box measures of getting housing. So I think there’s a lot to look at.”

Theis says she’s introduced a bill to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to work in home construction to attract more young people into the trades.

“How do we get students interested again, men and women into the building trades and get them to help us figure out how do we go forward, that will be something I’m really going to be pressing forward for next session.”

She says one of the biggest problems in the state is a lack of affordable housing due to inventory at an all-time low. According to Housing First Minnesota, Minnesota is one of the most expensive states in the Midwest to build a home. Theis says she’s working to figure out why.

Mekeland issued a statement saying, “I am honored to receive this award because decisions at the state level are choking out affordable housing and driving more and more prospective homeowners out of the market. Homeownership is a major factor in building strong families which, in turn, build strong communities. Our state’s extreme regulatory and permitting processes are doing a major disservice to us in that regard and Minnesota has fallen far behind our neighboring states in terms of housing affordability. I will continue supporting policies that incentivize affordable homes while pushing back against burdensome regulations that only make our situation worse.”

Housing First Executive Director David Siegel said Minnesota’s housing market is on thin ice and reform is needed to increase housing affordability. He credited Mekeland and other legislators for working to address this issue.

___

KNSI News Director Jennifer Lewerenz contributed to this report.

___