On February 13, the Emergency Housing Stability and Production Package (Senate Bill 1537 and Senate Bill 1530) passed out of the Senate Committee on Housing and Development on a bipartisan, unanimous vote of 5-0. It moves to the Committee on Ways and Means for further consideration.
The package is focused on funding homeless shelters, supporting renters, and boosting housing production and infrastructure.
“Oregon needs to build more homes to meet the needs of our residents to stabilize the cost of housing and address our homelessness crisis,” said Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Portland), Chair of the House Committee on Housing and Homelessness. “Making housing and living in our communities more affordable requires the type of action, investment, and partnership incorporated into this bill. It’s important to take steps to pass legislation this session that reduces barriers to building critically needed housing in Oregon.”
Senate Bill 1537 — introduced at the request of Governor Tina Kotek — creates and dedicates $75 million toward a new revolving loan fund to make interest-free loans to local governments to help finance production of affordable housing and moderate income housing projects.
The bill grants qualifying cities a one-time expansion of Urban Growth Boundaries. Cities under 25,000 people can expand by 50 acres, while cities over 25,000 people can expand by 100 acres. In the Metro area, the cap is 300 acres. Cities must display that they have done comprehensive planning and permitting before expansion and demonstrate need for both housing and land.
SB 1537 also creates the Housing Accountability and Production Office to support local governments as they work to achieve their housing production goals.
“This is a much-needed step in the right direction in our continued effort to produce homes in Oregon by removing barriers, expanding buildable land, cutting red tape, and investing in much-needed infrastructure,” said Sen. Dick Anderson (R-Lincoln City), Vice-Chair of the Senate Committee on Housing and Development. “But the work doesn’t stop here. I look forward to our continued progress in building homes for all Oregonians.”
Senate Bill 1530 makes significant additional investments directed at immediate needs for Oregonians, including funding ongoing operations of homeless shelters, rental assistance, and keeping families in safe homes during extreme weather events.
Funding includes:
- $100 million in direct allocations for shovel-ready projects within the existing Urban Growth Boundary
- $65 million for ongoing homeless shelter support
- $40 million to OHCS for rental assistance with a set aside for culturally specific organizations
- $18 million for Recovery Housing to house people recovering from drug addiction
- $10 million for land acquisition to convert buildings into affordable housing
- $3.5 million for air conditions and air filters provided on an emergency basis to at-risk individuals
- $4 million to the Residential Heat Pump Fund in DEQ
- $7.5 million to Healthy Homes, to support home repairs and improvements to lower energy usage and make homes safer
In total, the Emergency Housing Stability and Production Package commits $350 million to address the most urgent housing needs facing Oregon. This builds on resources the Legislature has committed to affordable housing production, homelessness support, and rental assistance over the past several legislative sessions.
“This package makes significant progress on our homelessness relief and affordable housing production goals,” said Sen. Kayse Jama (D-Portland), Chair of the Senate Committee on Housing and Development. “Governor Tina Kotek and her team did incredible work on this package, and I want to thank her for her advocacy and involvement, as well as the legislators and community members who have worked with us over these months. We are all committed to making sure every Oregonian has safe, affordable housing.”
