Montana Housing Coalition: Governor’s Housing Task Force provides blueprint for legislative solutions

The Montana Housing Coalition applauds the governor’s leadership to bring together public agencies, private sector employers, housing advocates, and industry players to formulate recommended actions to address our housing shortage. The task force was spot on when it wrote that “existing public resources are inadequate to make any meaningful or measurable dent in the known housing shortage, including affordable workforce and rental housing which is attainable for Montana’s extremely low-income households and labor market.” That’s why the inclusion of so many wide-ranging solutions that government at various levels can implement, whether through Legislative approval or regulatory change, in the task force’s two reports was so encouraging.

We are thrilled that all three of our legislative priorities for the 68th Legislative session align strongly with recommendations made by the Task Force in its Oct. 15 report to the governor. These innovative ideas are the product of best practices from other states that have been successful in increasing affordable housing options. They include:

• Support of a State Workforce Housing Tax Credit: The task force report recommends that Montana enact a State Affordable Housing Tax Credit. Similarly, the Coalition has proposed a workforce housing tax credit to mobilize private funding to increase housing that Montanans can afford. The Workforce Housing Tax Credit Act will bring more private investment to Montana to create more homes and apartments.

• Reauthorization of the Multifamily Coal Loan Program: To increase housing supply, task force members specifically proffered that “an expansion of uses of the Multifamily Coal Trust Homes program…would result in incentives to increase the supply of statewide housing.” The Multifamily Coal Loan Program was created in 2019 and was the first time state money was dedicated to rental development. The original $15 million was immediately deployed to seven projects across the state. Additional investment into this program is necessary to make low-interest loans available for the development and preservation of rental homes in Montana.

• Investment in the Housing Montana Fund: Similarly, the task force suggested that “a deeper investment in the State’s Housing Montana Fund (HMF)” would also incentivize additional housing supply. This revolving loan fund was established in 1999, yet there is no identified, on-going fund source. With a $2.4 billion budget surplus, the Legislature has the opportunity to provide a large one-time investment in safe and affordable homes for Montana’s workforce through an existing program.

Who benefits from these proposals? It’s the disabled veteran living on a fixed income in the Flathead, where population growth has exceeded even Bozeman, and home prices have skyrocketed. The working family in Miles City struggling each month to pay rent and purchase groceries thanks to severe inflation. It’s the single mom raising two kids in Belgrade after her husband passed away, working hard to give her children a bright future. The senior citizen in Great Falls who worked her whole life to achieve income security, only to be scammed out of her life savings. These are our neighbors and friends, and they deserve our help.

As the governor noted in his executive order, Montana’s population grew by 9.6% between 2010 and 2020, while the state’s housing unit growth was only 6.6%. His task force was emphatic: “Montana needs to increase its housing supply. Period.” Doing so will benefit all Montanans, but we must keep our eye on the ball and focus on solutions that increase affordable housing opportunities. By empowering the private sector to invest in more housing, we will provide economic security and hope to our most vulnerable neighbors. Making our state stronger in the process.