Around 100 people from across the state with a variety of expertise in housing gathered on the campus of Montana State University in Bozeman for the Burton K. Wheeler Center’s conference ‘ The Montana Housing Crisis: Can Supply Meet Demand?’
Scott Guenther is the Executive Director of the Burton K. Wheeler Center, which hosts non-partisan discussions and lectures on pressing issues and policy facing Montanans.
Guenther said hosting the conference after the election and before the upcoming legislative session provided a unique opportunity, with a dozen bipartisan state lawmakers in attendance.
“It gave an opportunity for us for the stakeholders for those policy makers who are already working in the space to talk about those policy ideas that they have and you know catch the year of new legislators who might want something to do when they show up in Helena in January,” Guenther said.
Panelists discussed regulatory changes made in the last legislative session as well as what they’d like to see addressed in 2025.
“What we really have to get to sooner or later, like 80% of the states in the United States have done is provide state money for housing,” said Sheila Rice of the Montana Housing Coalition.
The conference also included discussion groups following the panels with all attendees. HRDC Board member Linda Young took the chance to weigh in at her table.
“I thought this discussion was too much about home ownership and not enough about affordable rentals,” Young said.
The Wheeler Center says all the conversations were recorded and hope analyzing the tape will provide some common threads and ideas to be of use in the upcoming session.
