How the 2023 Legislature Tried to Tackle Montana's Housing Crunch.

• Author: Dietrich, Eric

This is news to no one: Montana is facing a historic housing crunch.

Population growth, much of it driven by in-migration, has spurred demand for homes and apartments beyond available supply in many if not most of the state's communities. Higher rents, too, make it increasingly hard for businesses to find workers

That housing pain was a top-of-mind issue for many lawmakers as the Montana Legislature convened in the state Capitol this winter, taking its every-other-year run at solving the states problems with new laws and public spending. As far back as last summer, Gov. Greg Gianforte signaled that he expected housing to be one of the session's top-tier issues, convening a task force to suggest potential legislation. As the Legislature wrapped up its work in May, the years single largest housing bill, authorizing $225 million in housing spending, passed to the governor's desk with one of the last votes taken by the House.

Lawmakers made two main pushes on the housing issue--both of which ultimately drew bipartisan support.

First, they passed an array of regulatory reform measures that, broadly speaking, intend to accelerate home construction by making it easier to build. Some of those bills focus on streamlining subdivision review, making it faster to divide undeveloped parcels into lots for homes or apartments. Others rein in city zoning powers, negating local land-use rules that housing advocates accuse of bogging down residential construction.

Second, lawmakers passed House Bill 819, a compromise spending package that puts $175 million toward housing initiatives as well as authorizing an extra $50 million for low-interest loans to developers who build rent-restricted apartments.

Gianforte, a Republican, has signaled his support for most of the zoning measures and the spending package, although some of the housing bills had not yet been signed or vetoed by the time this edition went to press.

Other housing efforts were generally unsuccessful. A bill to establish a state workforce housing tax credit to fund affordable housing projects fell short, as did state-level efforts to tax Airbnb-style short-term rentals, which can shift tourists into houses that would otherwise might be homes for long-term residents. Conversely, efforts to limit how cities and towns can regulate short term rentals themselves also failed. Additionally, multiple bills aiming to expand legal protections for mobile home park tenants fell short.

Zoning laws

Working with...