Oregon housing agency asks lawmakers to preserve shelter beds, expand rental aid in HB 5011 briefing

March 26 — Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) told the Transportation and Economic Development Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee on March 26 that the governor—s recommended budget seeks to preserve shelter capacity and scale up rental-assistance programs to avoid losing progress achieved with one-time funds.

Andrea Bell, executive director of Oregon Housing and Community Services, said the governor—s package includes multiple policy option packages that together would maintain about 4,800 shelter beds statewide and expand rehousing and long-term rental assistance. "The bulk of that progress. This biennium was funded with 1 time resources," Bell told the committee, arguing the state must now fund ongoing operations to avoid backsliding.

The package described by Bell includes: POP 501 to continue operating roughly 4,800 shelter beds (about $218 million for the biennium, as presented to the committee), POP 502 to expand local rehousing efforts (roughly $188 million to rehouse about 2,800 additional Oregonians), and POP 503 to establish and sustain a long-term tenant-based rental assistance program (about $105 million to serve an estimated 2,069 households in the first biennium). Bell said the rehousing intervention typically moves people into permanent housing in an average of about 56 days.

Why it matters

OHCS officials told legislators the recent expansion in shelter supply and eviction-prevention work was driven largely by one-time resources and emergency programs, and that continuing the services will require ongoing funding and oversight. Bell said shelter is "one of our most expensive interventions," and that maintaining the shelter system while financing transitions to permanent housing are central goals of the budget proposal.

Budget details and program descriptions

- Shelter (POP 501): The governor—s recommended budget would fund existing shelters that were created under the governor—s executive order on homelessness, navigation…