Levin has fought for investments to increase the supply of affordable housing, supported a tax credit for first-time homebuyers, secured federal funding for a homeless shelter and focused on eliminating veterans homelessness, according to his website.
If reelected, Levin said, he will fight to expand a housing construction tax credit to finance nearly 2 million homes over the next decade, and for legislation to make “the largest-ever federal investment” in affordable housing production, public housing and community planning to add nearly 1.5 million more homes.
He supports restricting hedge funds from buying single-family housing stock.
“The primary purpose of our limited housing supply should not be for Wall Street to make a profit,” he said.
Gunderson said his biggest federal obligation as a congressman would be to homeless veterans. His next obligation, he said, would be to put pressure on Sacramento and state entities to come up with and be accountable for policies that are productive and efficient.
Gunderson also supports policies that would allow mandated treatment for addiction or mental illness, sometimes against a person’s will. “It’s not compassionate to let people live in squalor just because they want to,” he said.
On housing, Gunderson said addressing its affordability begins with addressing the cost of development. He said he would support policies that reduce regulatory taxes and permitting fees. One idea would be to offer tax breaks or subsidies for the conversion of empty commercial buildings into housing, he said.
“I’m a political outsider; I didn’t come up through the ranks of local politics,” he said. “Am I a policy wonk? No, but I do approach this from a very business-minded, fiscally conservative perspective.”