Tag Archives: Affordable Housing

Oregon on track to be 1st state with mandated rent controls

Faced with a housing shortage and skyrocketing rents, Oregon is on track to become the first state to impose mandatory rent controls, with a measure establishing tenant protections moving swiftly through the Legislature. Many residents have testified in favor of the legislation, describing anxiety and hardship as they face higher rents. Some have gone up […]
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Blackman: Tenants in Oregon need stability

Every Oregonian deserves a safe and stable place to call home. Whether owned or rented, a home is the foundation of everything else: Our ability to go to work, to rest and recover, to raise our children and to grow old. Unfortunately, too many people don’t have access to stable housing in Oregon because there […]
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Guest column: Giving Salem more control won’t fix housing crisis

There is an affordable housing crisis afflicting Central Oregon. When I talk to folks in Redmond, Bend and rural Deschutes County, I hear, repeatedly, how residents are struggling to afford to live in Central Oregon, and businesses are struggling to attract employees due to the high cost of living here. One of the main reasons […]
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State tackles housing, homelessness

  Oregon’s housing finance agency presented an ambitious plan Monday to attack homelessness, while battle lines were being drawn over a bill that would open neighborhoods zoned for single-family houses to higher density dwellings. The bill would require cities and counties to allow duplexes and some higher-density housing in lands zoned for single-family dwellings. More […]
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Editorial: Let Redmond build its affordable housing project

If Oregon legislators truly care about affordable housing, they shouldn’t let a Redmond plan for about 200 affordable housing units die. The solution is easy: Pass House Bill 2336 and let the project proceed. Redmond is ready with a project. It’s got interest from developers. There is no shortage of demand. Redmond just needs permission […]
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‘OPB Politics Now:’ Oregon’s Housing Crisis

For years, it’s been up to cities to solve their own housing problems. But Oregon’s housing crisis is now a statewide issue, and legislative leaders are rushing to respond. In this week’s “OPB Politics Now,” OPB political reporters Lauren Dake, Dirk VanderHart and Jeff Mapes discuss two bills being considered in this year’s Legislative session […]
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Capitol roundup: Housing votes an early test for Helt, Zika; Helt already reporting significant fundraising for 2020 race

It may feel like the 2019 legislative session just started, but big pieces of Democrats’ affordable housing agenda will see major action this week. The bills will also be an early test for the Bend area’s two first-year House members, Rep. Cheri Helt, R-Bend, and Rep. Jack Zika, R-Redmond. Their votes could be a litmus […]
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Legislators lay foundation for housing crisis fight

Supporters build a case for bills to alter zoning, battle high costs and crushing rent increases. Salem resident Paula Pena often slips cash into her father’s wallet when he’s not looking. The money is to help pay rent on a duplex in Northeast Salem. Source: Pamplin Media Group – Legislators lay foundation for housing crisis […]
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Rent control: Senate Dems push Republicans aside to advance key bill

Moving quickly on their first major bill of the 2019 legislative session, Senate Democrats passed out of committee Monday night a measure to cap rent increases statewide, in the process rankling Republican leaders already frustrated with being pushed around by the new Democratic supermajority. Source: Rent control: Senate Dems push Republicans aside to advance key bill

Governor speaks on affordability issues, child care, immunization at Bend forum

Brown calls Oregon ‘a child care desert’ and says immunization laws need to be stronger. From affordable housing to child care, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown shared her views on a wide range of statewide and regional topics Friday during a forum in Bend. The forum, hosted by the City Club of Central Oregon, was held […]
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