Dear Neighbor,
We are set to receive an updated state economic forecast on Tuesday, which means work will begin in earnest to establish a new biennial budget.
The last full forecast was issued in early December and it called for a $1.4 billion surplus for the upcoming biennium, starting in July 2017. It will be interesting to see what transpires this time.
The information we receive will provide us with the firm framework necessary to build a budget. Gov. Mark Dayton and each legislative body will put forth proposals to compare and contrast. As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, the panel most integral to crafting a budget, I look forward to working closely with this issue.
Legislation I have authored in an attempt to make home ownership more affordable to more families by lessening the burden of construction mandates cleared its first House committee this week.
The issue I am working to resolve is that construction regulations can account for 25 percent or more of the overall costs on a new home. Reports I have seen indicate that for every $1,000 increase in the price of a home more than 4,100 people get priced out of the market.
Over the last few decades, multiple thousands in regulatory costs have been added to the price of a home and effectively have turned away many first-time home buyers and young families. Because these are some of the very people our communities need to attract, put down roots and provide a wide variety of local benefits, this bill is intended to help going forward in keeping the price of a new home affordable.
To provide for more affordable new homes my bill would put new restrictions on the process for new regulations that would add more than $1,000 to the cost of constructing or remodeling a home. This proposal does not preclude regulations that are necessary, but it does create some oversight where costs exceed that threshold.
I do want to be abundantly clear that I am in no way suggesting people should skip features such as foundation insulation or energy rating/testing. But, as I stated in a previous email, those probably should be options for people to consider in consultation with their builder instead of regulators in far-away offices making the call.
Maybe the best way to look at it is to decipher the difference between prescriptive- and performance-based regulations. A prescriptive code says, for example, you must have certain devices in your ventilation system to ensure the air is turned over at a prescribed rate. A performance-based code may enforce the same prescribed rate, but leaves it up to you to decide how it is met.
My plan is to keep working with the regulatory agencies and the builders and realtors to establish a proposal worthy of broad support. I am grateful for the committee being receptive in hearing my bill. It is now being held over for possible inclusion in a larger package of bills later this session.
Thank you for the continued correspondence on a wide variety of issues and look for more news from the Capitol soon.
Sincerely,
Bob