Senate OKs housing package

By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau

Gov. Tina Kotek is the final stop for a $200 million-plus package that she and lawmakers crafted to aid unhoused people, avert homelessness and lay the groundwork for more housing production in Oregon.

The Senate gave final legislative approval to both bills Tuesday night, following House votes on March 15, after the full text of the bills was read aloud by a computer.

“The people of Oregon expect us to act,” said Sen. Aaron Woods, a Democrat from Wilsonville and Senate co-chair of the budget subcommittee that cleared the bills. “Oregonians deserve shelter and access to affordable housing.”

The votes were delayed because minority Republicans in the Senate have declined to waive the constitutional requirement that all bills be read aloud before final votes. The policy bill (House Bill 2001) was 106 sections and 74 pages long, and took more than 90 minutes for a computer to read.

Kotek issued this statement after the Senate votes:

“I am deeply grateful to the housing providers, developers, landlords, advocates, impacted communities, and elected leaders on both sides of the aisle who have answered one of Oregon’s most pressing calls for help by supporting this response package. I want to extend a special thanks to the House Speaker Dan Rayfield and Senate President Rob Wagner for making sure this package was a priority early in the legislative session.”

What’s in the package

In addition to Kotek’s original request for $130 million in the 10 counties with the greatest number of unhoused people – plus $27 million more that legislators tacked on for aid to 26 rural counties – the budget bill (HB 5019) also provides seed money for programs that Kotek and lawmakers want to increase housing. The related policy bill extends notice for evictions based on nonpayment.

The $157 million aims for rapid re-housing of 1,650 households experiencing homelessness, expanded shelter capacity by 700 beds, and prevention of homelessness for 8,750 households through rental assistance and other services. The Oregon Department of Housing and Community Services will funnel aid directly to multiagency coordination groups in the five regions designated in Kotek’s Jan. 10 executive order that declared an emergency for homelessness, plus rural counties.

The Portland region and Central Oregon are in separate three-county regions designated in Kotek’s order, which also lists the counties covering Salem, Eugene and Medford. Money for the 26 rural counties will go through coordination by the Oregon Department of Emergency Management.

According to the 2022 point-in-time counts conducted in Oregon, counts that Kotek has acknowledged as “incomplete,” most of the 18,000 people counted live in 10 counties – but about 4,000 live in the other 26 counties. These counts exclude homeless youths, who are tallied in a separate count by the Oregon Department of Education.

Of the rest of the $220 million total, $25 million will go to aid for homeless youths, $20 million for production of modular homes that can reduce cost and construction time, $5 million for Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes, $5 million for improvements in onsite housing for farmworkers – overseen by the Department of Agriculture – and $3 million for a revolving loan fund to help communities and developers jump-start construction for worker housing with advance payments for permit fees and systems development charges.

“This is just a start,” said Sen. Kayse Jama, a Democrat from Southeast Portland who leads the Housing and Development Committee. “It lays the foundation for what is to come.”

More work to do

Sen. Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles, said the package funds some good programs, but argued that it amounts to a short-term fix for a longstanding problem.

“We have zero incentives to build multifamily units,” he said.

Sen. Dick Anderson of Lincoln City, the top Republican on the Senate Housing Committee, conceded that the bills will not end the crisis, but added: “I am hoping that additional bills will be allowed to make their way to this (Senate) floor and receive your support.”

The package also funds an effort by the Department of Land Conservation and Development, the state land use planning agency, to help cities greater than 10,000 – plus Metro, the Portland regional government – plan for housing production goals. Kotek has set a housing production target of 36,000 annually, 80% higher than the annual average of 20,000 during the past five years. But Kotek, who announced that target in her inaugural Jan. 9, conceded that is unlikely to happen immediately.

Oregon was short 111,000 housing units during the past decade, half of them needed by people who earn far less than the area median income. (In Portland, that figure topped $70,000.)

Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp of Bend voted for both bills. But he said that the real solution to homelessness and a shortage of housing is more housing, plus treatment for those with substance use problems who are on the streets.

“We also need to unleash the private sector to solve this problem,” said Knopp, who is also executive vice president of the Central Oregon Builders Association. “Some of this problem exists because of current government policy. The answer cannot simply be more government policy to solve a problem that government policy has not solved. We need to stop attacking housing creators.”

One other provision in House Bill 2001 extends the required notice for evictions based on nonpayment from 72 hours (3 days) to 10 days, allowing more time for tenants to obtain help. This does not extend notice of evictions based on other reasons.

On both bills, five Republicans joined 16 Democrats to vote for them. In addition to Knopp and Anderson, they were Bill Hansell of Athena, David Brock Smith of Port Orford and Suzanne Weber of Tillamook. Six Republicans and the lone independent voted no. Democrat Chris Gorsek of Gresham and Republican Cedric Hayden of Fall Creek were absent.