Minnesota lawmakers are looking to advance legislation to bar discrimination against individuals who use rental assistance and reaffirm the Minnesota Human Rights Act which prohibits discrimination on the status of public assistance.
Several local and state leaders gathered together in the Governor’s reception room, led by Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, to speak about their support of the Housing Stability Act. This bill would expand the definition of public assistance to include rental assistance, ensuring that those who use Section 8 vouchers would be classified as a protected class.
In her address, Flanagan shared a photo of herself depicting life in her family’s St. Louis Park apartment. She recounted the memories she had growing up in what she described as one of the “most community-centered spaces” that she’s lived in.
She also shared how her neighbors, predominantly immigrant families, would watch over her while her mother went to work and allowed her to freely run in and out of their homes as she was seen as family. Flanagan’s family could afford the apartment with the help of a Section 8 voucher.
“I share this with you because I want to remind you why this matters,” she said. “We are overdue to make right on these wrongs, and that starts today. So I am proud to be here today along with this powerful group of leaders that say we are ready to work together to get this done.”
Lt. Gov. Flanagan shared that over 5,000 families would receive housing vouchers in the next biennium, emphasizing the importance of the bill and the need to ensure that these families would find a home with their vouchers.
According to Flanagan, the Housing Stability Act was written to address the 2010 Minnesota Court of Appeals decision that stated Section 8 vouchers do not fall under the protection of state law as public assistance.
Terri Smith, the director of Metropolitan Council Housing and Redevelopment Authority, addressed the audience of journalists and stakeholders in the room to speak about her role as a public servant to ensure that she can make a difference where she can.
Smith referenced a statistic that found 54% of new voucher holders could use the rental assistance to afford their new home. The remaining 46% of the people returned to the agency, unable to find a landlord who would accept their voucher. She described this issue as a common occurrence that leads to further issues for families down the road.
“Allowing landlords to deny applicants solely because they have rental assistance limits housing choice, it concentrates poverty, it limits wealth building and social mobility, and it disproportionately impacts people of color,” Smith said.
Minnesota Department of Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero and Minnesota Housing Commissioner Jennifer Ho attended the press conference to support the Housing Stability Act, given their direct involvement in the work that assists families and works to bar discrimination against individuals.
Ho stated that the vouchers as the best tool to provide individuals with long-term rental assistance, and landlords who accept the vouchers would only stand to gain from the situation.
“These owners know that accepting housing vouchers is good insurance. That rent will be paid. It’s a win-win. The renter has stability in their housing, and the owner receives a guaranteed payment,” Ho said.
Commissioner Lucero shared that preventative measures would be a guiding principle in their approach when asked what more could be done to prevent landlords from discriminating against applicants with rental assistance.
“Our goal is, first and foremost, to always educate,” she said. “We want to prevent discrimination from happening in the first place and work with the many landlords out there that are already doing it really, really well and to support other landlords who could be part of that process and story.”
Rep. Kaohly Vang Her (DFL-64A) authored the House bill and spoke to the historic investments made in housing in last year’s omnibus bill. Vang Her stated that there was $124 million invested in rental assistance programs, and the Housing Stability Act would ensure those dollars would be put to good use.
“To ensure that the investment we’ve made in the last year is impactful, we must clarify that property owners and management companies cannot refuse to rent to someone because they receive and use public assistance to pay for their rent,” Her said.
Senator Clare Oumou Verbeten (DFL-66), who authored the companion bill in the Minnesota Senate, also took the podium to highlight the bill’s importance. She described how it would help prevent other forms of discrimination.
“I think it’s important for us to come back and clarify this because it’s also a proxy for other forms of discrimination. That’s what makes me so angry about this is that it’s [a] proxy for discrimination against people of color. It’s a proxy for discrimination against people with disabilities,” she said.
St. Louis Park Mayor Nadia Mohamed was also in attendance at the press conference to show her support for the bill and share her story of how, like Flanagan, a Section 8 voucher made it possible for her family to live in St. Louis Park.
Mohamed shared data from the Housing Justice Center and Minnesota Housing Partnership that stated 44% of Minnesotans benefiting from housing vouchers are Black or African American. According to Mohamed, the data illustrated that the denial of vouchers perpetuates issues that hinder economic security and upward mobility.
She also touted her city’s support of 157 public housing units and providing rental assistance to over 500 households annually but stated that this work could not be done in a vacuum.
“While we are proud of our actions to expand housing options in St. Louis Park, affordable housing is a statewide issue and cannot be solved by one community alone. It is time for a statewide commitment to prohibiting income discrimination,” she said.
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