SALEM – Oregon lawmakers have approved more than $ 700 million for housing needs beyond the emergency caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
In addition to avoiding evictions and foreclosures, the legislature aimed to increase the supply of cheaper housing, to help people without permanent housing and to reduce the housing differences between racial and ethnic minorities.
During the legislative period that ended in June, the legislature made considerable investments in residential construction.
Legislature went way beyond what it did in 2019 when it banned tenant evictions for no reason and asked cities of 10,000 or more – plus all cities within the Portland subway line – to allow maisonettes or other apartment buildings on land who have favourited for single family homes family homes.
“We … have gone to great lengths to accommodate Oregon residents through a combination of compassionate policies and solid investments,” said US House spokeswoman Tina Kotek, D-Portland, in a statement breaking the housing code summarizes. “While the work we’ve done has brought stability to the Oregonians, we must continue to maintain a crisis mindset as we continue to work to resolve the state’s housing crisis.”
The moratorium on evictions ended in June, although Senate Bill 282 extends the grace period for paying overdue rents from the pandemic to February 28, giving tenants 60 days of safe haven prior to evictions under SB 278 if they provide evidence that they asked for help.
“Evictions and foreclosures can wreak havoc on families for generations,” said Julie Fahey, a Democrat from Eugene, MP. She worked with Rep. Jack Zika, a Republican of Redmond, to secure both the original $ 200 million state aid to landlords and renters during the December special session – a month before the 2021 session broke down – as well as to shape the safe haven provision that has passed in the last days of the meeting. Federal aid increased the amount available for rental subsidies to around $ 500 million.
The legislature reintroduced a separate moratorium on the foreclosure of residential buildings in the House Bill 2009, which runs until September. Governor Kate Brown can executive order to extend it again until December if she announces this in advance.
Senator Kayse Jama, D-Portland, was new to both the Legislature – he occupied the seat Shemia Fagan had vacated when she was elected Secretary of State – and the Senate Committee on Housing and Development. He said it was important for lawmakers to look beyond the longstanding housing crisis and the effects of the pandemic.
According to a December 2019 report, the home ownership rates of blacks in Oregon were 32.2%, compared with 65.1% for white households.
“The pandemic has only exacerbated existing inequalities in our society, and there is so much clear data on housing differences for communities of color,” said Jama. “This work will continue during the transition period and into the 2022 meeting.”
Below is a list of some of the major housing laws that were passed during the session:
homelessness
• $ 47 million to increase the capacity of shelters and navigation centers for the next cold weather season, including $ 26.5 million for low-barrier shelters in eight cities, $ 10.5 million for shelters in Salem and 9 , $ 7 million for additional motel-to-shelter project turnkey sites. One of them will be in Multnomah County.
• US $ 25 million to help communities run shelters and provide technical assistance.
• $ 20 million for the Behavioral Health Housing Incentive Fund.
• $ 12 million in rental assistance and permanent housing service assistance.
• US $ 10 million to Multnomah County to build a behavioral medicine resource center in downtown Portland.
• US $ 3.6 million for providers who care for unaccompanied, unoccupied youth (HB 2544).
• $ 1.2 million to improve the nationwide homelessness and service outcomes data system.
• Accelerating the search for shelters by temporarily giving local governments more flexibility in locating shelters (HB 2006).
• Modernization of the nationwide housing and homeless support system and ensuring access to culture-specific and culturally interested organizations (HB 2100).
• Protect unprotected Oregonians from fines or arrest for sleeping or camping on public property when no other option is available (HB 3115).
Tenant support
• US $ 5 million for housing assistance for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors.
• $ 4.8 million for Fair Housing and Education Enforcement to the Fair Housing Council of Oregon, the Oregon Department of Justice, and the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries.
• $ 4.5 million to set up a long-term rental allowance fund for young adults under the age of 25 who have recently been homeless or have left foster families or juvenile detention centers.
• $ 3 million to help community organizations distribute rental subsidies or educate tenants.
• US $ 1 million to the Oregon Law Center for legal counseling for tenants and residents of industrial parks.
• Requesting landlords to carry out individual assessments and to consider additional evidence from applicants before rejecting an application for accommodation on the basis of a criminal record (SB 291).
Home ownership
• $ 20 million in down payment assistance, half of which goes to a revolving loan fund to assist home buyers with secondary loans and the other half to community cultural organizations to increase home ownership.
• $ 20 million to provide flexible funding for affordable single family home construction and alternative ownership models such as cooperatives.
• $ 10 million to create the Healthy Home Program, which provides grants to repair and renovate homes for low-income households and communities that are disproportionately affected by pollution or other hazards (HB 2842).
• US $ 7 million to support industrial park residents with park purchase loans and home decommissioning grants and replacement loans.
• $ 3 million in foreclosure prevention counseling services for homeowners.
• US $ 2 million to provide technical assistance and outreach to culturally specific organizations to remove barriers to home ownership.
• $ 2 million to SquareOne for a pilot project on shared home with tiny homes.
• $ 1 million for a community pilot program developing additional residential units for income-earning homeowners (HB 3335).
• Protection of homeowners from foreclosure during the pandemic (HB 2009).
• Address racial differences in home ownership by providing additional education to mortgage lenders on implicit and racial prejudice, approving grants and technical assistance to organizations promoting home ownership for low-income and colored people, and renewing the Joint Task Force to combat it racist origin disparities in home ownership in order to recommend further solutions (HB 2007 and SB 79).
• Enhance the ability of Oregon to acquire legislation for residents of industrial parks (HB 2364).
Housing supply
• $ 410 million for housing through the Local Innovation Fast Track and Permanent Supportive Housing programs.
• $ 100 million to maintain affordable housing.
• $ 30 million in revolving loan funds for affordable housing or land purchases.
• $ 10 million for gap funding for affordable rental housing projects co-located with childcare or early childhood education centers.
• $ 5 million in gap funding for previously approved affordable housing projects where construction costs rose unexpectedly during the pandemic.
• $ 4.5 million in grants and technical assistance to local governments for community planning and updates to development regulations.
• $ 1.3 million to explore the incorporation of regional housing needs assessments into state and local planning programs.
• $ 900,000 to investigate local system development fees and their impact on the cost of real estate development (HB 3040).
• Increase the federal state tax credit cap on farm housing from $ 7.25 million to $ 16.75 million per biennium to increase housing construction, remediation, or housing purchases for farm workers (HB 2433 ).
• Encouraging local governments to allow the development of affordable housing projects on land within an urban growth line that is not intended for residential use (SB 8).
• Reduction of bureaucracy for religious organizations in the development of their real estate for low-income housing and enable the continuation of their property tax exemption (HB 2008).
• Creation of conditions under which local governments must permit land divisions for new medium-sized housing developments (SB 458).
• Asking local governments to submit information to an online inventory of surplus public land (HB 2918).
• Enabling rural districts to permit owners of land in rural residential areas to build an additional residential unit (SB 391).
The Oregon Capital Bureau is a collaboration between the EO Media Group and the Pamplin Media Group.