Housing & Transportation
New transportation law hopes to get Minnesotans moving
Transportation advocates have been seeking a law like this for a decade.
Uber warns customers and drivers that it may leave Minnesota over proposed legislation
Uber is making a last-ditch effort to kill legislation on its way to becoming law in Minnesota, which the company says could cause it to shut down operations in the state completely. In emails to drivers and customers on Monday night, Uber said the legislation would threaten passengers’ safety, drivers’ earning potential and the ability […]
New quarter-cent metro sales tax for housing assistance likely to pass Legislature
The Minnesota Legislature is poised to fund a new rental assistance program with a quarter-cent sales tax increase in the Twin Cities metro area, which would be the state’s first ongoing funding stream dedicated to housing. The state House approved the tax on Monday as part of a $1 billion bill that funds new affordable […]
High mortality rate of homeless highlighted in new report
Barb Anderson, director of Haven House in Jeffersonville, Indiana, works with homeless people to place them into housing. It’s a job that has shown her firsthand the severe health issues facing unhoused people in southern Indiana, where many people live in tents in the woods and under bridges. She is currently working with an older […]
Long wait time but little fraud in pandemic rental assistance program, legislative auditor says
By and large, Minnesota Housing did a good job getting the right amount of emergency rental assistance to the right people, but that attention to accuracy led to significant delays that frustrated renters and landlords, according to a report released by the state’s watchdog legislative auditor on Thursday. In late 2020, Congress voted to send […]
The true dangers of long trains
This story first appeared in ProPublica. Just before 5 a.m., Harry Shaffer’s wife called to him from across the living room, where he’d fallen asleep on the couch, exhausted from installing an aboveground pool. Did he hear that sound, that metallic screeching from up the valley? She opened the door of their double-wide trailer and […]
Democrats propose quarter-cent sales tax to fund new rental assistance program
The high-level budget agreement between Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders includes the biggest number for housing in state history: $1 billion over the next two years, eight times larger than the last budget appropriation. Yet nearly all of that is one-time funding, paid for with part of the state’s $17.5 billion budget surplus. That […]
The gentleman from Scott County takes public transit to the Capitol
For the first two months of the legislative session, Shakopee DFL Rep. Brad Tabke spent a lot of time on transit. On the day he was inaugurated, his truck was badly damaged in a three-vehicle wreck. So, he used transit to get to and from the state Capitol four days a week. Tabke’s daily journey […]
Open drug use, beatings, scared airport passengers; riders say public transit going off the rails
A House transportation committee heard on a bill, HF2045, sponsored by Rep. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee, which would launch a three-month, intensive intervention program to “reset” the culture of the light rail.
DFL lawmakers announce $3 billion package to address Minnesota’s housing crisis
DFL lawmakers from the state House and Senate on Wednesday unveiled their $3 billion package aiming to end child homelessness, reduce racial disparities in homeownership and ease the shortage of housing. The DFL’s “All Roads Lead Back to Home” package would grant $350 million in rental assistance annually to low-income families, which lawmakers said would […]
Lawmakers drafting bill that would put social workers on light-rail trains
Minnesota lawmakers are working to quickly pass legislation that would put social workers — or “ambassadors” — on the trains to help enforce rules and assist homeless people or people with mental health or addiction issues.
Walz and Democratic governors pitch federal funds for housing, clean energy
WASHINGTON — Using the recent influx of federal funds to expand state and local clean energy infrastructure, affordable housing and workforce development will pay long-term dividends, a group of Democratic governors and mayors said Wednesday at an event hosted by a prominent liberal think tank. Ahead of the National Governors Association’s winter meeting here this […]