Committee reviews governor’s middle‑housing and infill bill proposing statewide legalization and incentives for affordable and accessible units

The House Committee on Housing and Homelessness held a public hearing March 3 on House Bill 2138, the governor’s middle‑housing and infill policy bill (dash‑1 amendment). Agency staff and dozens of stakeholders testified about proposals to legalize additional middle housing across urban areas, streamline land‑division processes, limit certain off‑site exactions for small infill projects, and offer a statewide density bonus to incentivize affordable or Type A accessible units.

Matthew Schawbold, director of the Governor’s Housing and Homelessness Initiative, and Aurora Jettl of the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) presented the bill’s goals and technical elements. Jettl summarized the statewide housing shortfall: a current deficit of about 100,000 units and an estimated need of roughly 400,000 additional units over the next 20 years, with 89% of the current deficit concentrated among households at or below 80% area median income.

Schawbold said the bill’s core goals are to legalize middle…