Finding Common Ground in an Unpredictable Year

Guest Opinion

Predicting what the Michigan legislature will do next is rarely easy. In an election year, under divided government, it can be nearly impossible. That makes what happened on housing policy this summer worth examining.

While Republicans and Democrats continue to disagree on plenty, lawmakers have found areas of agreement on housing—advancing changes to building regulations and creating a major new financing tool for affordable housing. The measures differ considerably in approach, but collectively they demonstrate that legislators are considering both the cost of producing housing and the financing gaps that prevent projects from being built.

One example is House Bills 5570 and 5571, now Public Acts 28 and 29 of 2026. Sponsored by Republican Rep. Parker Fairbairn of Harbor Springs and Democratic Rep. Stephen Wooden of Grand Rapids, the legislation changes Michigan’s construction code to allow qualifying multifamily buildings of up to four stories to use a single interior exit stairway under specified safety requirements.

It sounds technical, but technical rules matter when you are building housing.

Requiring a second staircase takes up usable space and can make smaller multifamily buildings difficult to construct on narrow or constrained lots. Allowing qualifying buildings to use a single stair can provide greater design flexibility and reduce costs. Research presented to the legislature also examined the safety experience of jurisdictions that already allow modern single-stair buildings, including New York City and Seattle.

For northern Michigan, reforms like this are particularly relevant. Many of our communities are not looking for large apartment towers. They need incremental housing: smaller apartment buildings, infill projects, and additional homes in downtowns and village centers. Changes that improve the economics of those projects can expand the range of housing that is feasible to build in small and rural communities.

The legislature also enacted the Michigan Housing Opportunity Tax Credit. Senate Bill 966, now Public Act 23 of 2026, establishes a state housing tax credit that works alongside the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. The legislation passed the House 95-13 before receiving final Senate concurrence and being signed in July. State officials estimate the program could support approximately 2,500 additional housing units annually, although actual production will depend on projects, financing, and implementation.

This addresses a different problem. Even when communities approve housing and developers are ready to build, the numbers often don’t work. Construction, labor, infrastructure, and financing costs can leave significant gaps between what a project costs and what rents can reasonably support. The new state credit gives developers another source of capital to help close those gaps.

Importantly for northern Michigan, the legislation also provides specific consideration for rural projects. That matters because smaller rural developments often face different economics than projects in larger metropolitan areas.

Other housing proposals remain unfinished, and what happens next is considerably less certain. Michigan enters the fall campaign season with divided legislative control and major elections approaching. That changes the dynamics in Lansing. Legislative calendars become shorter. Campaigning consumes more time. And lawmakers know that November’s results will shape the political environment for the lame-duck session and the legislature that follows.

That is why anyone confidently predicting which bills will—or won’t—move this fall should probably add an asterisk.

Bills sitting quietly in committee today could receive attention after the election. Others that appear positioned to move may not. The incentives facing legislators in November and December will depend partly on an election that hasn’t happened yet.

For housing advocates, the practical response is preparation rather than prediction. Continue working on good policy. Maintain relationships with legislators from both parties. Keep educating policymakers about the realities facing rural communities. Have proposals ready if an opportunity develops—and recognize that some issues may ultimately carry into the next legislative session.

There is also a larger lesson in what happened this summer. Housing policy does not have to fit neatly into a partisan box. One reform can address building regulations. Another can provide financing for income-restricted housing. Others can address permitting, infrastructure, zoning, or rehabilitation.

Those approaches don’t solve the same problem, and no single one solves Michigan’s housing shortage. But this summer demonstrated that legislators with very different political philosophies can still work on different pieces of the same housing puzzle.

In an unpredictable political year, that may be the most useful housing development of all.

Kent Wood is the founder of consulting firm Borealis Strategic, and serves as Policy Advisor for Housing North, a 10-county housing agency serving northwest Michigan.

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