ST. PAUL — A bipartisan group of Minnesota lawmakers working on housing reform remains motivated and hopeful despite hitting another roadblock this session.

One of the major bills in the overall housing reform effort, the “Starter Home Act,” stalled in committee on March 23, just before a key March 27 deadline that says committees must advance bills in their house of origin. The bill,

HF3895/SF4123

, hits on several reforms, including limiting the zoning authority of local governments, incentivizing more multifamily housing, and streamlining administrative reviews.

Although the bill didn’t meet that deadline, there is a chance a version or pieces of the bill will show up later in the session. Last session, smaller pieces of the housing reform, such as limiting aesthetic mandates, traveled solo and further than the bigger zoning reform bills.

Proponents of the reforms, including authors of the Starter Home Act in the Senate and House Rep. Spencer Igo, R-Wabana Township, and Sen. Jordan Rasmusson, R-Fergus Falls, remained hopeful that something could be done this session.

“I am still highly confident,” Igo said in an interview Wednesday, April 1. “Anything worth doing is never easy, and change is really hard, but the fact that we all know … whether you support land use and zoning reform or you’re against it … everything we’ve done in Minnesota in the past 10, 15 years hasn’t moved the needle yet, and it’s on us as legislators and as a state to start making changes that could make a difference, because we can’t afford to wait any longer.”

Rasmusson said that regardless of outcomes this session, “this issue isn’t going away.”

“A lot of Minnesotans, especially younger Minnesotans, are concerned about their ability to afford a home, and that’s why we’re working to make starter homes legal again here in Minnesota by reducing government overreach that’s preventing these types of homes from being built,” he said.

It’s the

third push at the Legislature

for the housing reform; its first official appearance was at the end of the 2024 session. Igo said there have been roughly 30 different versions of the bill as a result of weekly meetings with stakeholders and opponents.

Daniel Lightfoot, senior intergovernmental relations representative at League of Minnesota Cities, said that while cities are always opposed to local preemption, the League of Minnesota Cities has taken a more neutral stance this session as a result of some changes made in the interim to accommodate flexibility for cities.

“Previous iterations of this bill were much more sweeping, and they applied statewide, forced density everywhere, without accounting for infrastructure and things like that, and because cities stayed engaged, the current bill certainly is more targeted … and ultimately, better reflects how cities actually operate,” he said.

One of those changes is a “menu-based option,” Igo said, where, based on population, cities can pick changes that work for them to meet the new land use and zoning requirements.

The Starter Home Act is a policy bill, meaning it comes without state funding — the Legislature also isn’t in a budget-building session — but cities note that the reforms could cost them instead.

Igo said it’s “probably true” that the reforms could cost cities, but pointed to potential long-term returns, such as community growth or a larger tax base, should affordable housing become available.

“I think it’s really easy to look short-sighted and freak out about why that would hurt in the early phases, but think about what’s going to happen in the long run,” he said.

Lightfoot argues that it remains to be seen whether these reforms would actually result in more affordable housing. During the hearing on March 23, Rep. Patty Acomb, DFL-Minnetonka, said she’s concerned the Starter Home Act would not address affordable housing, but only housing supply.

“There is nothing in here that is going to ensure affordable units are built,” she said. “I encourage that we allow our communities who have elected officials who represent and are accountable to our constituents be allowed to continue to do the good work cities are doing.”

Opponents have also argued that the bill is another overreach on local government. But lawmakers in support are pushing back on that. Rasmusson said there are several occasions where it might be better for the state to step in, and pointed to how local units of government used to have their own building codes before the state stepped in.

“It created a lot of confusion for builders and for the marketplace. We don’t allow local units of government to have their own gun laws, right? They’re preempted on that,” he said.

Rep. Nathan Coulter, DFL-Bloomington, said during the March 23 hearing for the bill that “government overreach is very much a thing on the local level.”

“It is absolutely possible for local governments to overreach, and I have seen it happen time and time again,” he said. “And the result is, when it comes to housing, that not only are we punishing the communities that want to do the right thing, but we are punishing the people.”

Minnesota’s wildlife management areas — there are more than 1,500 public WMAs in the state — are celebrating 75 years this year. Individuals can learn more about their history in a webinar recorded on March 25 and archived on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website. It’s one webinar of many on outdoor topics the DNR produces every quarter.

The department has been hosting webinars for several years now, and they continue to remain popular, according to Benjamin Kohn, DNR volunteer mentor program coordinator.

“We started these right after COVID as a way to share information and encourage people to get outdoors, to share with them some of the work that DNR is doing and some of the great opportunities we have in Minnesota,” he told the Grand Forks Herald. “It’s gone really well.”

After starting them during the coronavirus pandemic, it slowly grew from there due to people’s interest. “We did an 11-part series on deer hunting — we still use that for our Learn to Hunt programs — and it just kind of built off of that,” he said.

Most of the presenters are from the DNR but sometimes an expert from another organization is invited to present on a topic, such as one in May about yellow bass by a DNR staffer and Jon Lore, an avid yellow bass angler. The two will discuss the fish’s population status, biology, fishing challenges and angling opportunities in the state.

Some of the topics are repeated every year, such as webinars about the state’s fishing or hunting openers, but there also are a mix of issues that have not been covered or that take a new approach to a previously presented topic.

“We typically do one around turkey season about turkeys, we always do one around deer season highlighting regulations for deer and CWD (chronic wasting disease),” Kohn said. “There are some standard ones we always throw in to get the word out to a large number of people.”

The webinars have received a lot of participation with many thousands of views every year.

“There’s a good chunk of people who turn in and watch them,” Kohn said, but noting if someone cannot join during the live session — although that is preferred since participants can ask questions — the webinars are recorded and saved in an archive on the DNR website. People can then review what sessions they missed or are most interested in watching.

Topics cover a gamut of outdoor activities and topics under the generic subheads of fishing, hunting, nature, outdoors, etc. One of the more popular videos is one about micro-fishing, a sport that started in Japan and in recent years came to the United States.

“Microfishing is the practice of catching the smallest fish,” Kohn said. “There’s a more active and larger niche audience in Minnesota that loves to microfish. We’ve had a lot of views on that one.”

Most of the videos are roughly an hour, with some variations. Typically, the speaker will present for 30 minutes or so, followed by a question-and-answer period. Length of the Q&A, of course, depends on audience participation.

All of the webinars are captioned and free to watch, but pre-registration is required to participate in the live events. Registration is not required to view recordings. Kohn said the webinars and archive are a bit unique for a natural resources department.

“Two or three years ago, we went to a Fish and Wildlife conference in South Dakota where they did a presentation on how virtual learning is adding to what DNRs can offer,” he said. “As far as I know, we’re the only agency in the country that is still doing and maintaining some of these videos.”

Watch a webinar

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has several upcoming webinars planned on outdoor topics in the state. Participants can pre-register at dnr.state.mn.us/fishwildlife/outreach/index.html , where visitors can also find the archived videos.

April 8: Turkeys – Greg Henderson, wildlife specialist and avid hunter, will talk about turkey populations across the state, different hunting opportunities and some tips for bagging a gobbler.

April 22: Native fish – Shannon Fisher, fisheries populations and regulations manager, will discuss native species, their importance to Minnesota and related regulation and legislative updates.

May 6: Walleye – DNR fisheries staff will discuss the walleye forecast for this year, a behind-the-scenes look at how the department manages the species and some tips for catching one.

May 20: Yellow bass – Jon Lore, an avid yellow bass angler, will discuss the species biology, population’s status, fishing challenges and angling opportunities in the state.

This Season on Wild vs. Canucks

Minnesota won the series-opening game, 5-2, in St. Paul (11/1) before Vancouver won the second meeting, 4-2, at Rogers Arena (12/6).

RW Vladimir Tarasenko (1-2=3) and LW Matt Boldy (1-2=3) lead the Wild with three points each. D Jonas Brodin (1-1=2), C Joel Eriksson Ek (0-2=2) and RW Mats Zuccarello (1-1=2) have each posted two points. G Filip Gustavsson saved 26-of-28 shots to earn the victory for the Wild in the first game. G Jesper Wallstedt stopped 16-of-20 shots faced in the second game.

C Autu Raty leads the Canucks with five points (2-3=5) in the series. LW Drew O’Connor (2-0=2) and D Tom Willander (1-1=2) each have two points. G Thatcher Demko stopped 23-of-27 shots faced for the Canucks in the first game. G Nikita Tolopilo saved 28-of-30 shots faced to earn the win in the second matchup.