Housing “Miracle” Crosses State and Party Lines

By Sarah Evans

Kansas State Rep. Rui Xu (D-KS) and Montana State Sen. Ken Bogner (R-MT) come from different states and opposite sides of the aisle. However, they didn’t let that stop them from working together to address an issue both Kansas and Montana struggle with: the housing crisis. 

Bogner met Xu at Future Summit 2022, where Bogner says, “Rep. Xu made a comment that really resonated with me. He stood up and he thanked legislators in the majority that were there for their willingness to work with the other side when they didn’t need to, and that really resonated with me. So I went over to talk to him, to tell him that, and, you know, we started a conversation, got to know each other a little bit.” 

Two years later, Xu reached out to Bogner with a request: Could he testify in front of the Kansas House of Representatives about the so-called “Montana Miracle,” a series of bipartisan legislation passed to address the affordable housing shortage in his home state? The legislation reduced red tape and required municipalities to engage in more structured planning, among other provisions. 

“There were some older legislators that didn’t want change,” Bogner says of the effort to pass the legislation. “They want the status quo, and, you know, haven’t needed to buy a home in the last couple decades … but there were legislators on both sides of the aisle that wanted to fix this problem. It was Republicans in the rural areas and Democrats in the cities, and young people in both that wanted to buy homes.” 

Bogner says that the Republican supermajority had to rely on support from the Democratic minority to get the legislation passed. “This was such a big issue, and it just transcended the bipartisanship that was happening, and the minority knew that it was something that they could help on,” says Bogner. “I really admire them for putting their disagreements aside and helping pass these bills which the majority needed them on.”

When Xu saw Montana’s success, he believed that Kansas might be able to learn from it. “People were pretty surprised that they passed what I think most people would consider fairly progressive housing legislation in a really Republican and very conservative state,” says Xu. “Kansas, in a lot of ways, is pretty similar to Montana. I thought, you know, I should connect with Ken and kind of see how this came about for them, and see what we could do for Kansas.” 

Bogner testified in front of the Kansas House in February 2024. Xu says that the preliminary hearing was a success, and that the feedback he received was that it was “one of the best of the best committee meetings that [members] have ever seen.” 

“It was really interesting—not the usual lobbyists just talking at you about something that they need,” says Xu. “You know, it’s just kind of, hey, this is an issue. Let’s bring some people in and talk about the issue.” 

Kansas is still in the preliminary stages of developing legislation, and Montana is still waiting to see the full impact of their own laws. Xu says he hopes Kansas lawmakers will discuss next steps soon, while Bogner says he looks forward to data on the increase in living space. 

Both Xu and Bogner emphasized the importance of younger generations in addressing this issue. “The younger lawmakers are just a little more passionate about the future—what’s going to affect them, what’s going to affect their future children,” says Bogner. “They’re the ones that work the hardest, in my experience, and it’s really motivating to see them in these positions and what they can do when they are elected and representing their communities.” 

“I think we cover politics too much like we cover sports, and I’m a huge sports guy, but every day somebody has to win,” says Xu. “That’s not healthy. Politics is about crafting policy in which most people, if not all people, should be able to win. Finding people who can and want to collaborate is really important.”