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Dear friends,
The Legislature is scheduled to hold its first set of "Legislative Days" for the 2024 interim on May 29-31. Committees will meet for informational hearings and the Senate will also consider confirmations of the Governor's appointments to various boards and commissions.
During the 2024 interim, I continue to serve as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and of the Senate Conduct Committee (and co-chair of the Joint Conduct Committee). I also continue to serve on the Senate Natural Resources & Wildfire Recovery Committee and the Senate Human Services Committee, as well as on the Joint Committee on Addition & Community Safety Response and the Joint Committee on Legislative Counsel. While my assignments mean a busy schedule, especially during Legislative Days, I look forward to engaging with constituents about their views on topics that come before these committees.
Below you will find information on:
- 2023-24 Community Investments
- Session Accomplishments: Housing & Homelessness
- Application Open for the 2025-2027 Cultural Resources Economic Fund
- Business Oregon Awards Will Support Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses
- Planning to Visit Your Capitol? Please Note: New Public Entrances
I hope this information is helpful and informative for you or someone you know. As always, feel free to share your comments, questions or concerns with me by phone, mail or e-mail.
2023-24 Community Investments
My colleagues and I are committed to putting our state's resources to work on issues that matter most, like homelessness, affordable housing, and the fentanyl crisis. We worked together in 2023 and 2024 to do exactly that. Now, you can see many of those projects coming to fruition.
Projects in/around Senate District 4 include:
- $4 million to Willamette Family, Inc. to support the construction of the Willamette Family Medical Detox and Resident Services facility, including 33 additional slots to serve community members in crisis or who are struggling with addiction;
- $6 million to the City of Eugene for water and sewer infrastructure improvements along Crow Road, supporting the development of hundreds of new homes within the urban growth boundary and bringing more than 850 jobs to our community;
- $3 million to the City of Springfield for sewer infrastructure improvements for Glenwood Riverfront area development; and
- $1.5 million to Homes for Good Housing Agency for the Ollie Court Housing Project, providing 81 units of affordable housing with a six-classroom early learning center.
In total, my delegation colleagues and I secured $10.5 million in new funds for affordable housing development and infrastructure improvement in Lane County, and $4 million to expand crisis stabilization and drug treatment services. Lane County will also benefit from statewide investments aimed at improving connections between substance use disorder services and the criminal justice system so more Oregonians get the help they deserve:
- Grants to assist counties with setting up deflection programs that will connect Oregonians dealing with addiction to treatment services and prevent them from becoming involved in the criminal justice system ($30 million); and
- More staff and coordination for drug courts to divert those already involved in the justice system to treatment ($9.7 million).
Lane County has been a leader in using effective and cost-efficient models by establishing one of the first drug courts in the nation in 1994. I'm proud the Legislature is stabilizing state funding, expanding capacity of our drug courts, and realizing the importance of investing in additional, community-based addiction treatment services for our neighbors who want to access those services.
Session Accomplishments: Housing & Homelessness
Following the 2024 Legislative Session, I'm sharing in-depth summaries of bills passed by subject area. Below is a comprehensive listing of accomplishments related to improving public education — by Senate/House bill and in numeric order:
Senate Bills
SB 1527 - Supporting More First-Time Homebuyers: First-Time Home Buyer Savings Accounts (FHSA) are designed to make saving for a first home easier. FHSAs are deducted from taxable income and allow up to $5,000 annually for single taxpayers and $10,000 for joint taxpayers. This legislation defines beneficiaries of FHSAs and allows them to withdraw money from these accounts. Funds may be withdrawn by account owners or beneficiaries without penalty so long as they are used for a qualified purpose. This bill also establishes that financial institutions are not required to designate accounts as FHSAs; instead, it requires the account owner to establish its designation.
SB 1530 - Homelessness & Housing Funding: This legislation is the primary funding component of the Emergency Housing Stabilization and Production Package. The bill invests $279 million toward Oregon's immediate housing and homelessness needs by funding homeless shelters, supporting renters, and boosting housing production and infrastructure. Highlights include support for emergency shelters, Project Turnkey sites and navigations centers, rental assistance — with 30 percent set aside for culturally specific programs — and capacity for 27 recovery housing projects. Of the total, $101.4 million is set aside for direct allocations to cities across the state for 44 shovel-ready infrastructure projects. Additional funds are directed toward land acquisitions for affordable housing, climate-friendly energy home improvements, and warming and cooling shelters statewide.
SB 1537 - Housing Production: Oregon must develop more than 550,000 new housing units across all income levels to accommodate population growth and previous lack of housing production. Governor Kotek issued an executive order establishing an annual housing production target of 36,000 homes. This legislation establishes the Housing Accountability and Production Office to assist local governments in housing production and enforcement. It allows cities and counties to opt into amending housing regulations. This bill creates the Oregon Infrastructure Financing Authority and Housing Project Revolving Loan program, to help fund production. It also allows cities to apply for a one-time urban growth boundary expansion if they can demonstrate a need and allows for a land swap under certain circumstances.
SB 1564 - Model Ordinances for Housing Goals: Over the last few years, the Legislature has worked to update its local laws to allow more middle housing development in residential-zoned areas. This legislation allocates $550,000 to the Land Conservation and Development Commission to create and adopt model ordinances for cities to help comply with building requirements.
House Bills
HB 4026 – UGB Expansion Ballot Referrals: This legislation disallows final land use decisions made by a local government from being subject to referral to voters by referendum petition. Urban growth boundary decisions are only allowed to be reviewed by the Land Conservation and Development Commission.
HB 4134 - Infrastructure Grants: According to the Oregon Housing Needs Analysis Report, Oregon needs to build 20 percent, or about 112,000 units, more affordable to moderate-income households for people earning between 80 and 120 percent of the area median income. This legislation appropriates approximately $21.9 million to cities across Oregon to fund infrastructure projects that will be completed within 24 months and directly benefit planned housing development.
Applications Open for the 2025-2027 Cultural Resources Economic Fund
The Cultural Advocacy Coalition (CAC) has released details to its Cultural Resources Economic Fund for 2025-2027. Since 2013, the Cultural Advocacy of Oregon (CACO) has worked with the Legislature to fund capital construction projects across Oregon. To date, the Legislature has funded $38 million in more than 50 projects.
Who is eligible: Arts and culture organizations with capital construction projects of $150,000 or more, occurring between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2027
Deadline for proposals: June 1, 2024 (Phase 1), August 1, 2024 (Phase 2)
Contact: Sue Hildick, Senior Advisor of CACO at info@oregonculture.org or 503-816-4701
Please read the CREF 2025-2027 guidance document to find out if your organization is eligible to apply. Apply here!
Business Oregon Awards Will Support Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses
Business Oregon and the Oregon Innovation Council (Oregon InC) announce recipients of their 2024-2025 Regional Innovation Hub Grants. Regional Innovation Hubs provide technical assistance, capital, networking, mentorship, and talent development to innovation-based entrepreneurs statewide. Regional Innovation Hub grant funding supports these Hubs in continuing their work assisting entrepreneurs with innovation-based business concepts across varied industry sectors and supporting a regional innovation network. Serving Lane County, Cascades West Council of Governments was awarded $120,000 as the lead organization for the Cascades West Innovation Hub in Lane, Benton, Lincoln, and Linn Counties.
Separately, Business Oregon announced an award of $3 million to 15 currently operating Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) to improve services to Oregon small businesses. SBDCs assist clients with business plan preparation, financial management, personnel management, and marketing. The SBDCs also help facilitate access to capital by bridging the gap between small businesses seeking capital and lenders looking for qualified buyers. In Lane County, Lane Community College SBDC is among the awardees.
Planning to Visit Your Capitol? Please Note: New Public Entrances
Construction continues at the Oregon Capitol to make critical accessibility, seismic, and other safety upgrades to the historic building. The project worked around the 2023 full session and the 2024 short session, and has kicked into full gear this interim.
To work quickly, crews have temporarily closed the central State Street entrance that has served as our main public entrance for the last 16 months. The Capitol's House and Senate wings, which house the legislator offices on floors 2-4, remain open to the public Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. but will now have their respective entrances at the southwest and southeast sides of the building, along State Street. Temporary ADA ramps have been added to these areas.
The corridor that connects the wings with hearing rooms A-F will close, except during Legislative Days, when it will briefly reopen to allow for access to informational meetings and hearings. When the corridor is closed, the terrace that connects the wings on the second floor will open to the public to allow for navigation between the two spaces.
To plan your visit and learn more about construction at the Capitol, visit:
https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/cams.
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