Affordable housing plan in North Dakota draws broad support

Senate Bill 2030 would provide:

• $200 million to the state’s Housing Incentive Fund. The money is to be distributed from that fund over four years.
• $10 million to the Housing Finance Agency for grants to address homelessness over two years beginning July 1.
• $1 million to the Department of Public Instruction to assist students experiencing homelessness in the 10 largest school districts in the state for the next two years. A school district may receive no more than $50,000 per fiscal year and must provide matching funds.
• $50,000 to the Housing Finance Agency for a study of homelessness over the next two years.

The bill also calls for a legislative study of homelessness in the state before the 2027 legislative session.

Legislative Management introduced the bill.

The bill so far has bipartisan support, with Rep. Ben Koppelman, R-West Fargo, and Sen. Josh Boschee, D-Fargo, testifying in favor of the bill during the hearing in front of the Education and Environment Division of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

David Flohr, executive director of the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency, said building affordable housing helps attract and retain workers, a major challenge in the state. Adding housing supply also helps address homelessness and helps keep rent affordable, he said.

Dan Madler, chief executive officer of Beyond Shelter, a company that specializes in building affordable housing, called the bill a bold move that would have more of an impact than the smaller appropriations of the past.

He said it would help the whole state and is needed to keep up with housing incentives in neighboring Minnesota and South Dakota.

The committee heard from several people who work to address homelessness, along with emotional testimony from people who stay in shelters and make use of homeless services.

Dion Schilling said without the United Way Center for Opportunity in Bismarck, “I can guarantee you one thing, I’d be dead.”

Sue Shirek, executive director of the Northlands Rescue Mission in Grand Forks, said her facility went from providing people with about 14,000 nights of shelter in 2023 to more than 20,000 in 2024.

She said mental health issues are one driver of homelessness.

“We aren’t anywhere near equipped to provide for those behavioral health needs,” Shirek said, adding that many clients need services like those provided by the State Hospital at Jamestown. “We’ve become a junior State Hospital, and we’re not equipped to do it.”

No one spoke against the legislation at the hearing, but there was written testimony submitted in opposition.

Doug Sharbono of Fargo wrote that the city has “dumped money and resources into a bottomless pit where the support attracts additional homeless to move to Fargo.”

Koppelman was asked why the school liaison program was only targeted to the 10 districts with the most students. He said he viewed it as a pilot program that could be expanded to more districts if it proves to be effective.

Committee Chair Sen. Ron Sorvaag, R-Fargo, said the plan would likely get more discussion as the committee considers the overall budget of the Housing Finance Agency.