State officials brief committee on governor’s housing-production bills covering middle housing, preapproved plans and infrastructure funding

Chair Pham opened an informational hearing for the committee on the governor’s priority housing bills in Ways and Means. Matthew Schaubold, director of the Governor’s Housing and Homelessness Initiative, Aurora Jettl of the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD), and agency and local-government partners summarized three bills aimed at increasing housing production: HB 2138 (middle housing and infill), HB 2258 (preapproved building and land‑use plans, called “Oregon Homes”), and HB 3031 (an infrastructure-for-housing financing program).

The briefing focused on the state’s housing shortfall and how the three bills would address different barriers. “We need to build 500,000 units to meet the housing needs of Oregonians over the next 20 years,” Aurora Jettl, legislative and policy analyst, DLCD, told the committee, citing a current deficit of about 100,000 units and a projected additional need of roughly 400,000 units. Jettl added that the governor set a production goal of 36,000 units per year by executive order.

Why it matters: presenters said shortages are concentrated among lower‑income households and that rising home prices and cost burdens require both regulatory changes and targeted funding. Jettl said “most of those needs are concentrated for our low income communities,” and noted widening racial gaps in homeownership for Black and Native communities.

HB 2138 (middle housing and infill). Matthew Schaubold (Governor’s Housing and Homelessness Initiative director) described the bill’s goals as legalizing thousands of additional units, removing barriers to…