Minnesota State Senator Rich Draheim (R- Madison Lake), chair of the Senate’s Housing Finance and Policy Committee, released the following statement in response to the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency’s (MHFA) consideration of rent control in the Qualified Allocation Plan:  

“Rent control is a misguided, disastrous policy. It has been proven to shut down projects, reduce investment, and hurt access and availability of affordable housing. With so much evidence confirming this, I am frustrated that Gov. Walz’s Commissioner of Minnesota Housing Jennifer Ho and the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency have included rent control in the second draft of the Qualified Action Plan. I chaired over half a dozen hearings on this subject. Commissioner Ho attended many of them, and she never once informed the legislature that this was being considered. It needs to be removed as soon as possible.

“I strongly urge the MHFA Board and the commissioner to do the right thing for Minnesotans and reject any rent control policy.”