Missoulian: Senator Jon Tester: Montana housing prices are too high. I’m doing something about it

As a public school teacher at F.E. Miley Elementary in Big Sandy, I took great pride in preparing my students to be the next generation of Montana leaders.

The students who walked in and out of my classroom all had the potential to impact our state in meaningful ways: as nurses and doctors in communities along the Hi-Line that desperately need more folks in medicine; as police officers and firefighters keeping their hometowns safe; as farmers and small business owners moving our state’s economy forward. Many of my students shared the same humble goal I had growing up: to live, work, and make an impact in the communities that raised them.

But Montana is changing. While many of my students were able to achieve those goals, today’s young families aren’t often so lucky. Too many Montanans are getting priced out of their communities because of the rising cost of housing. It’s becoming tougher for Montanans to afford to live and work in the community they grew up in or have long called home.

A recent report rated Montana as the least affordable housing market in the entire country, and it’s an issue I hear about from folks all across our state.

Montanans are tired of ultra-wealthy out-of-staters buying up multiple properties and jacking up housing prices across our state. They want solutions that will get the outrageous cost of housing under control — so I’m doing something about it.

I’m taking Montanans’ ideas to the U.S. Senate to tackle Montana’s housing crisis head-on, leading on legislation that would drive costs down and build supply up.

Let’s start by putting more money in the pockets of hardworking Montanans looking to buy their first home. My First-time Homebuyer Tax Credit Act would give a tax credit to first-time homebuyers worth up to 10% of a home’s purchase price — up to a maximum of $15,000. It also directs the secretary of housing to establish a program for advance payments of that tax credit so Montanans can use it as a down-payment at the time of their home purchase, when they actually need it most.

We can also get prices back under control by cracking down on the big corporations and investment firms who scoop up residential housing across our state just to turn a profit. My End Hedge Fund Control of Housing Market Act would stop this by imposing strict taxes on these out-of-state hedge funds who only care about their bottom lines, so that residential homes stay in the hands of hardworking Montana families and their neighbors.

And let’s incentivize the private sector to build more homes, plain and simple. That’s why I’ve long supported programs including the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) that are critically important for developing and maintaining workforce housing.

It’s why I rolled out my Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE) Act to revitalize Montana’s affordable housing supply by establishing a manufactured housing community improvement grant program. And it’s why I’ve voted to expand tax credits to incentivize developers to build more workforce housing.

There is no silver bullet that will single-handedly solve Montana’s housing crisis. But by employing a menu of options aimed at lowering costs and boosting supply, we can help Montanans all across our state who are feeling the squeeze. These are commonsense ways we can keep our state a place where homeownership is within reach for anyone who wants to keep calling Montana home, not just the wealthy out-of-staters who can afford it.

As your senator, I always take my cues from Montanans, and I’ll work with anyone who will work with me to get things done for our state. Montanans are calling for action to tackle the rising cost of housing. I’m ready to throw the kitchen sink at this issue so that future generations can continue to lay down roots and become leaders in their communities, just like my former students at F.E. Miley Elementary.