Sen. Nash: Urban politicians junk bipartisan housing bill

Bipartisan Bill to Increase Housing Supply in Rural Oregon Blocked by Urban Politicians
By Oregon State Senator Todd Nash,

SALEM, Ore. – Senator Todd Nash (R-Enterprise) released the following statement after Senate Bill 1578 was blocked yesterday by urban politicians in the Senate Housing Committee who initially expressed their support but then appeared to bend to their political allies who are intent on halting housing production in Oregon. The broadly bipartisan bill would have made modest but meaningful changes to Oregon’s land-use law to increase rural housing supply.

SB 1578 was crafted in partnership with county commissioners and local planners in Eastern Oregon and was supported by all 36 counties through the Association of Oregon Counties (AOC). The bill would have allowed counties with some of the lowest population densities in the nation to designate an additional 50 acres for housing, helping address severe shortages in rural communities without compromising critical agricultural land.

“I spent the last few years developing this proposal with the people who actually live and work in rural Oregon and who are begging for more housing. We’re talking about 50 acres in counties with hundreds of thousands—even millions—of acres and populations as small as 1,500 people. 250 new homes would be transformative in these rural Eastern Oregon counties.

“Local commissioners and planners know far better than the politicians sitting on the other side of the state where housing can and should go in their communities. For Portland and Willamette Valley lawmakers to override that local decision-making and deny rural communities the ability to build needed homes is deeply disappointing. Rural Oregon deserves the same respect and opportunity to address its housing needs as any urban area. They did not receive that respect with this vote.”

Despite broad bipartisan and statewide county support, the measure failed to advance out of committee on a party-line vote.