Iowa is facing a critical housing shortage in rural and urban communities.

According to the Iowa Finance Authority, Iowa needs an additional 25,000 homes by 2030 to keep up with demand and a quarter of Iowa households struggle to pay for housing.

The shortage of housing is also driving the cost of housing higher and higher. Renters are paying more in rent and can’t qualify for a home loan even if their monthly mortgage would be less than their monthly rent.

In addition to high property taxes, current homeowners wanting to get a new house to fit their needs are paying more per square foot. The housing shortage means high demand for existing homes keeps pushing prices up and unaffordable for too many Iowa families.

I joined my Democratic colleagues this week to introduce five bills we should pass this session to help lower costs and make housing more affordable for Iowans:

1. First-time homeowners: Expand the first-time homebuyer savings account which offers a tax-free solution for home savings

2. Home Improvement Fund: Create a $50 million neighborhood grant program for improvements for current homeowners; households making $109,000 or less would be eligible for up to $20,000

3. Tax credits for new housing: Create a $15 million tax credit program to build more affordable housing units

4. Capping rent increases: Cap rent increases for current tenants to the rate of inflation (CPI), including renters in mobile homes

5. Reduce unfair rental fees: 50% refund of rental application fee to anyone denied housing by a landlord

These are just a few of the bills we’re working on this session to try and fix this problem. We know there isn’t one silver bullet to fix our housing shortage and it won’t get fixed overnight, but we do know how to address the shortage and bring costs down for Iowans.

Housing isn’t a partisan issue at the State Capitol. It impacts every community and every GOP lawmaker I’ve talked to understands that there is a problem.

The reality is politics has gotten in the way of making meaningful progress the last several years. Every minute spent on divisive issues like book bans means there is less time to work on issues that will actually lower costs for Iowans in housing, utilities, childcare or healthcare.

It’s time to put politics aside, work together, and make housing more affordable for Iowans this session.

That’s people over politics.

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State Representative Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights serves the 32nd District in the Iowa House and is the Iowa House Democratic Leader.