Housing

If signed by Gov. Kate Brown, House Bill 2006 will also make it easier for cities to allow people to sleep in cars in approved “transitional housing” parking lots.

The City Council green-lit funding for trauma-informed counseling, warming shelter services, an affordable housing complex and other projects.

Because the state of emergency will now expire before the city votes on the permanent code change, the city said it needed to be extended one more time.

The proposal, called the Shelter to Housing Continuum project, would provide more options for people at risk of houselessness or already living on the street. The project has been in the city pipeline since February 2019 when the council voted to extend the city’s State of Housing Emergency, a declaration that eased zoning code restrictions for shelter providers.

Medford has proposed an ordinance that would tighten the city’s camping restrictions. Homeless advocates are advising the city to reject the proposal.

Never before has the housing crises in the state been so profound, making it one of the most pressing and urgent issues lawmakers will face this legislative session.

A combined $1.3 million will go toward three developments in Bend that will create more than 400 units of affordable housing.

House Bill 2835 would fund a "benefits navigator" position at all Oregon community colleges and public universities. That person would help students apply for SNAP and other assistance programs.

Researchers at Portland State University say the state’s eviction moratorium could cost far more than the value of unpaid rent.

The Old Mill & Suites would need repairs (and funding for those repairs) but could provide 64 units of housing for people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness.