By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
A revised statewide rent cap, though looser than its advocates originally proposed, is on its way to Gov. Tina Kotek.
The Oregon House approved the new cap — the Consumer Price Index plus 7%, but no more than 10% overall — cleared the Oregon House on a 32-18 vote Saturday, June 24, on the next-to-last day of the 2023 session. No Republican voted for it; two Democrats, David Gomberg of Otis and Thuy Tran of Portland, joined 16 Republicans opposed to it. Nine other Republicans were excused, as was a Democrat.
The Senate passed it earlier, 17-8, though the bill got stuck in the logjam resulting from the 42-day walkout by Republicans that started May 3 and ended June 15. The bill was reported out May 4.
Lawmakers imposed a cap on annual rent increases in 2019. But the cap amounted to 14.6% for 2023, as calculated by the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, and prompted the bill this session.
Kotek has called for increasing annual housing production from 20,000 units — the statewide average during the past five years — to 36,000 in line with an analysis that Oregon needs to build 550,000 units in the next two decades to offset a shortage from the previous decade and keep up with population growth.
“We know that it takes time to build housing,” said Rep. Andrea Valderrama, a Democrat from East Portland and the bill’s floor manager. “This cannot be an either-or approach. We can protect Oregonians from unreasonable rent increases and fix our housing supply crisis.
“Senate Bill 611 is about what we can do today, so we can have a workforce tomorrow. At a time when Oregon is experiencing some of the highest rates of homelessness in the nation, we cannot afford to let rent spikes go unchecked.”
The original bill would have set an overall cap of 8%, or inflation plus 3%, whichever was less.
“However, this bill continues to have my full support” despite the cap being loosened, said Rep. Mark Gamba. D-Milwaukie. “No one who is working full time should be housing-insecure.”
Rep. Kevin Mannix, R-Salem, said a continuation of the rent cap only adds to disincentives for housing construction such as complex land use regulations — the target of other legislation this session — and systems development charges by local governments that pay for water and sewer lines and streets, but also add to costs.
“The bottom line is that this is moving us in the wrong direction,” he said. “It’s making it harder for us to get more housing.”
Rep. Kim Wallan, R-Medford, said a cap prods housing providers to raise rents by the maximum allowed even if they prefer smaller increases for tenants.
“It is a multi-factor problem that a single-factor solution will not solve,” she said. “I do not disagree that we’ve got a problem. I agree that it is an emergency. I just disagree that this is the way to solve it.”
Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth, said he would vote for it because a housing emergency continues in Oregon. But he also said the real problem goes beyond housing and that local and state governments will have to face up to the challenge of spending more not just on housing, but community public works, schools and jobs.
“The fundamental problem is that we are not sustaining a middle class anymore,” he said.
Stable Homes for Oregon Families, a coalition of community groups, counted passage of the bill as a victory along with more than $80 million for emergency rental assistance and eviction prevention, and other state aid for housing and homelessness. Some money was contained in a bill that cleared the Legislature earlier in the session, and some is distributed throughout several budgets and other bills as the session winds down.
One of the earlier bills (House Bill 2001, signed March 29) lengthens the evictions period for nonpayment from three to 10 days.
“Evictions should be rare and they should be fair,” said Kim McCarty, executive director of the Community Alliance of Tenants. “Rent increases should be reasonable and predictable, and when people need emergency rent assistance, it should be available. The state Legislature made important progress on these protections this year.”
Ricardo Waites, executive director of the Central Oregon Black Leaders Assembly, testified in favor of Senate Bill 611 back on March 27.
“Because of inflation, Central Oregon renters have been seeing 14.6% rent increases, which increases our housing crisis, disproportionately affects people of color, and reduces our ability to diversify our community,” Waites said. “Educators, health care workers, and people in the service industry are having a hard time making ends meet as well. This legislative package will help people in our community and make Central Oregon a better place to live and work.”