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Gianforte creates bipartisan housing task force – Daily Montanan [1]
['Daily Montanan Staff', 'More From Author', '- July']
Date: 2022-07
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte announced the creation of a task force to help tackle affordable housing, according to a press release Thursday.
Created through executive order, the task force consists of 30 members including legislators and local officials and is being asked by the governor to provide recommendations for strategies for how to increase the supply of affordable workforce housing, “specifically focusing on regulatory changes and best practices that could be adopted by state agencies and local governments,” as well as measures the legislature could take, according to the executive order.
The executive order outlines three objectives:
-expanding the state’s construction workforce,
-reforming land use regulations, and
-reforming zoning restrictions “that prevent supply from increasing to meet demand,” the order reads.
“Owning a home is part of the American dream, but for more than a decade, it’s become harder and harder for Montanans to afford to own or rent a home,” Gov. Gianforte said in a statement. “Burdensome, restrictive, and unnecessary regulations have left Montana with a longstanding shortage of housing that continues to drive up the prices Montanans pay for their home.”
Between 2010 and 2020, Montana’s population grew by 9.6%, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, and Montana’s housing stock hasn’t been able to keep up.
The announcement comes a day after Montana Democrats unveiled a proposal to spend $500 million in budget surplus towards workforce housing in the run up to the 2023 legislative session.
The task force will meet for the first time on July 20, with an Oct. 15 deadline for its first report to the governor.
Director of the Department of Environmental Quality Chris Dorrington will chair the task force. The members will be the following:
Senator Ellie Boldman (D, Missoula)
Senator Greg Hertz (R, Polson)
Representative Danny Tenenbaum (D, Missoula)
Representative Sue Vinton (R, Billings)
Patrick Barkey, Ph.D., director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana
Terry Brockie, CEO of Island Mountain Development Group
Ross Butcher, commissioner of Fergus County
Kendall Cotton, president and CEO of the Frontier Institute
Nathan Dugan, president and co-founder of Shelter WF
Mark Egge, affordable housing advocate, data scientist, and former member of the Bozeman Planning Board
Laurie Esau, commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry
Jaclyn Giop, president of the Montana Water Well Drillers Association
Eugene Graf, owner of E.G. Construction
Emily Hamilton, Ph.D., senior research fellow and director of the Urbanity Project at the Mercatus Center
Adam Hertz, secretary of the Montana Board of Housing
Amanda Kaster, director of the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation
Bob Kelly, mayor of Great Falls
Jacob Kuntz, executive director of the Helena Area Habitat for Humanity
Bill Leininger, president of the Montana Association of Realtors
Todd O’Hair, president and CEO of the Montana Chamber of Commerce
Scott Osterman, director of the Department of Commerce
Nicole Rolf, senior director of governmental affairs at the Montana Farm Bureau Federation
Mike Smith, market president of Glacier Bank
Valerie Stacey, environmental health specialist with Lewis and Clark County
Don Sterhan, steering committee member of the Montana Housing Coalition; president and CEO of Mountain Plains Equity Group
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