Making the case for housing support: HRA advocates for Cook County at the MN Legislature

The Minnesota Legislature has just passed the halfway point in the 2026 session. Elected officials have spent the past several weeks meeting with leaders from across their districts to better understand local needs. Cook County Housing Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Jeff Brand was part of a delegation from Cook County to visit St. Paul.

Brand told WTIP that, though he was representing the HRA, several of the county’s and city’s legislative priorities were tied in to housing, especially the wastewater treatment project that Grand Marais leaders will garner state support. The Cook County delegation met with both Sen. Grant Hauschild and Rep. Roger Skraba.

“We had some real good opportunities to talk about what’s really important for greater Minnesota in terms of housing, for city needs, for county needs,” Brand said. “And I think that that was something that will hopefully play out by the end of session with some real legislation that can support us.”

A former legislator himself, Brand is no stranger to how decisions are made in St. Paul, and how important representation of Greater Minnesota can be. He said that since the legislative visit he was also asked to address the Senate Housing and Homelessness Prevention Committee during their discussion of a bill authored by Grant Hauschild. The bill, SF4571, would appropriate $15,000,000 from bond proceeds to the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, particularly for grants through the Greater Minnesota Housing Infrastructure Grant Program.

This is the second year of a narrowly split legislature. The slim margin in the Senate and tie in the House made passing legislation in 2025 complicated. Brand was hopeful about legislation that would benefit the Arrowhead. “There’s a lot of opportunities still to try to find ways to fund things and to do things. It’s just, there has to be a willingness to do it,” he said.

WTIP’s Kirsten Wisniewski spoke with HRA Executive Director Jeff Brand following the legislative visit he participated in. Audio of that conversation can be found below.

Kirsten Wisniewski March 30, 2026