Oregon legislature passes $376M package for housing production boost
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The Oregon legislature passed a slimmed-down version of Gov. Tina Kotek’s emergency housing production package on Monday, in what the governor calls one step towards addressing Oregon’s affordable housing crisis.
On Monday, the House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 1530 and Senate Bill 1537 — investing a total of $376 million towards housing production after the governor originally requested $500 million.
The bills, which are part of Kotek’s Emergency Housing Stabilization and Production package, are the only legislation introduced by the governor during this legislative session and previously passed by the Senate the week of Feb. 26.
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The bills now head to the governor’s desk for signature.
SB 1530
Senate Bill 1530 passed the House on Monday in a 51-6 vote.
The bill includes several housing investments, including $65 million for operating emergency shelters, Project Turnkey sites, and navigation centers.
Another $34 million will be allocated for homeless prevention services, including services under the Oregon Eviction Diversion and Prevention program and the Eviction Prevention Rapid Response program.
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The bill will also develop affordable housing projects. This includes a $25 million investment to the Albina Vision Trust to buy a property on North Dixon Street to develop into affordable housing.
The bill also gives $3 million to the Center for Intercultural Organizing to develop affordable housing on East Burnside Street.
Another $7 million will go to the Urban League of Portland for homeless prevention services.
SB 1537
On Monday, the House passed Senate Bill 1537 in a 48-8 vote.
SB 1537 creates the Housing Accountability and Production Office to support housing production and address issues from local governments and developers over compliance with state housing laws.
Under the bill, the Housing Accountability Office will become operative by July 1, 2025.
The bill also creates a fund to provide grants to affordable housing developers. Additionally, the bill lets cities change their growth boundaries.
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SB 1537 will also establish the Housing Infrastructure Support Fund for the Oregon Business Development Department to help local governments develop infrastructure to support residential development.
Kotek’s response
In response to the passage of the bills, Gov. Kotek praised the Oregon legislature for moving with urgency amid the state’s affordable housing crisis.
“Oregonians are struggling under the pressure of an increasingly unaffordable housing market. After hearing this concern directly from Oregonians from across our state last year, I knew we had to make major progress on our housing crisis during this year’s legislative session. I want to thank legislators for meeting the urgency of this moment and providing much-needed funding that will boost housing production throughout the state.”
She continued, “These bills offer a menu of tools that will provide the support needed to ease our housing crisis and help all our communities thrive. I believe this package will make meaningful progress in fixing our housing shortage while also preserving our land use system and ensuring strong environmental protections. But this is not the finish line. We have more work ahead to solve our housing and homelessness crises – and I will keep pushing for more because the need is so great. Oregonians are counting on us to deliver.”
Additional projects under the package are funded through House Bill 4134, which is up for a vote on Tuesday in the House and will need approval in the Senate.
The housing package comes as Oregon is behind 140,000 housing units and needs to build 440,000 units in the next 20 years to keep up with demand, according to the governor’s office.
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