UCS hosts Kansas Public Policy Forum, Building Prosperity: Housing and Economic Growth
UCS hosted a full room on Friday, November 22nd at the 2024 Kansas Public Policy Forum, sponsored by REACH Healthcare Foundation and United Way of Greater Kansas City. The annual meeting convened more than 100 community members, policymakers, agency partners, and funders at the Matt Ross Community Center in Overland Park.
The event marked the official release of the UCS 2025 Public Policy Platform outlining priority policy issues for the upcoming legislative session. To kick off the morning, UCS Executive Director Kristy Baughman provided a data presentation highlighting five-year trends in housing costs in Kansas and in Johnson County. Baughman then compared housing costs across the state with the salaries of key occupational categories. The presentation emphasized the need to address the cost of housing to ensure that communities across Kansas can continue to grow thriving economies.
The morning continued with a keynote address from Matt Godinez, Assistant Secretary for Quality Places with the Kansas Department of Commerce. Godinez provided data highlighting the outstanding economic growth that the state of Kansas has seen, and discussed how housing unlocks growth across Kansas. The presentation included an outline of several state programs intended to encourage housing development:
- Historic Economic Asset Lifeline (HEAL): rehabilitates downtown buildings for new businesses and organizations in rural communities;
- Residential Opportunities on Main Street (ROOMS): focuses on addressing housing shortages and enhancing livability in downtowns;
- Startup Housing Opportunity Venture Loan (SHOVL): Provides funding to developers for expenses incurred prior to the closing of their permanent financing for housing developments;
- Fostering Residential Advancement through mentoring and Education (FRAME): Designed to support technical and community colleges in Kansas and they enhance of expand programs aimed at training the next generation of skilled trades workers;
- Individual Development Account Tax Credits (IDA): IDA is a savings account for low-income workers that can be used for small-business development, higher education, or purchasing a first home.
Following the keynote presentation, the program featured a panel with perspectives from city development, statewide initiatives, economic development, and education. The moderated by UCS Executive Director, Kristy Baughman, the panel included:
- Matt Godinez, Assistant Secretary for Quality Places, Kansas Department of Commerce
- Elisa Waldman, Vice President of Workforce & Continuing Education, Johnson County Community College
- Emily Sharp, Director of Communications, Kansas Housing Resource Corporation (KHRC)
- Kevin Walker, IOM, CCE, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer, Overland Park Chamber of Commerce
- Jack Messer, Assistant City Manager, Overland Park
The panel explored a range of topics, including why the private market isn’t meeting the housing needs across the state, the range of incentives needed to increase housing supply, and the collaboration needed between cities, developers, employers and even colleges to address housing needs. The panel also spent time discussing the reality of economic growth being tied to housing and the community pushback—or Not in My Backyard (NIMBY).