House GOP statement on $155M homeless, housing bill

By In the news
In: Uncategorized
Wednesday March 15, 2023


House Republican Leader’s Statement on Passage of Housing and Homelessness Legislation to Address Oregon’s Crises
By Oregon House Republican Caucus,

 SALEM, OR – On January 17th, House Republican Leader Breese-Iverson (R-Prineville) sat down with Majority Leader Fahey (D-Eugene) and Speaker Rayfield (D-Corvallis) to discuss their respective priorities for the Legislative Session. The top priorities identified by all parties were housing and homelessness. Today, the House passed House Bill 2001 and 5019 to address these critical issues.

House Bill 2001, an omnibus housing package, provides changes to the way Oregon looks at housing. Representative Jeff Helfrich (R-Hood River), an appointee to the Governor’s Housing Production Advisory Council, has remained the House Republicans’ most engaged voice throughout this process.

“I would like to thank Representative Helfrich for his work navigating the complexities of Oregon’s housing and homelessness crisis and for agreeing to participate on the Housing Production Advisory Council. He has been instrumental in being a voice of reason through the formulation and completion of the bills voted on today,” said Leader Breese-Iverson. “The urgency to address Oregon’s housing shortage is long overdue. Republicans are focused and ready to solve problems in Oregon, and while this legislation take’s a crack at it, it does not do enough.”

House Bill 5019, the Homelessness Emergency Declaration Funding, responds to Governor Kotek’s request for $155 million to address the homelessness crisis in Oregon.

“Without a bi-partisan commitment to reform Measure 110 and truly tackle the drug crisis in Oregon, I fear we will continue to see more of the same. While the bill provides expanded shelter capacity and rental assistance, I do not believe it gets to the heart of this issue – the failure of Measure 110 to provide meaningful access to treatment,” said Leader Breese-Iverson.

House Bill 2001 and 5019 have now been referred to the Senate.

Share