Housing agency reports progress, constraints after major biennial investments; committee acknowledges report

Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) presented its second annual report on expenditures and outcomes from 2023–25 one-time legislative investments, telling the Transportation and Economic Development Subcommittee the report covers expenditures through January 2025 and that the department will return with more details during the committee's upcoming budget hearings.

OHCS Executive Director Andrea Bell and Deputy Director Caleb Yant told the subcommittee the department has administered a large volume of one-time resources intended to expand shelter, prevent evictions, rehouse people experiencing homelessness and increase housing supply. "To date, 1,400 shelter beds were created, over 24,000 evictions were prevented, and 3,300 households were rehoused," Bell said, summarizing results tied to the governor’s executive order on homelessness and recent legislative investments.

The department emphasized three themes for the presentation: (1) clarifying how one-time investments were intended to operate; (2) reporting current outcomes; and (3) highlighting implementation challenges and trends. Bell and Yant said the state has a newly visible pipeline of housing projects — roughly $3 billion in funding requests for projects that could be built if resources are available — and noted that those projects are at different stages of readiness.

OHCS described program changes and outcomes across several major areas:

- Affordable rental housing and the ORCA process: OHCS replaced its previous competitive NOFA (notice of funding availability) system with ORCA (Oregon centralized application) to focus on project readiness and create a public pipeline of projects. The department said ORCA has four stages to manage readiness and match projects to available resources.

- Modular housing development fund: The legislature provided funds to four economic-development partners to expand modular production capacity in Oregon. Bell said the intent is to build in-state capacity rather than rely on out-of-state manufacturers. "We think it's a missed opportunity to be able to really make sure that we homegrown that and invest in that," she said. OHCS told the committee one partner expects to produce roughly 200–350 homes by 2027.

- LIFT (Local Innovation Fast Track) and permanent supportive housing: OHCS reported LIFT capital is expected to reserve funds for more than 1,500 units, and permanent supportive housing investments are expected to support 372 units, with 152 already committed.

- Moderate income revolving loan fund and pre-development: The department said the moderate income revolving loan program opened Phase 1 in February 2025 and expects about 300 units to be supported; as of the hearing, funds had not yet been expended because projects are still entering the pipeline and the program is structured as a revolving loan.

- Homeownership: OHCS highlighted Article 11-Q LIFT bonds and other tools to expand homeownership lending and development, including rural program adaptations. The agency received $85 million in the biennium to expand homeownership development (roughly $80 million in Article 11-Q bond proceeds and $5 million general fund), and officials said they expect those resources to be subscribed and committed to projects over multiple years.

- Housing stabilization and homelessness response: The agency reported roughly $445 million in one-time general fund investments in housing stabilization, including eviction prevention and long-term rental assistance. OHCS said long-term rental assistance has enrolled about 780 of roughly 1,009 rehoused households identified for that support.

OHCS also discussed program timing and spending mechanics. Officials explained that capital construction appropriations are often deposited into other-funds accounts so projects can draw down resources across multiple biennia. Tamara Brickman of the Chief Financial Office clarified that LIFT capital is funded with bond proceeds, not straight general fund appropriations.

Committee members asked for more detailed materials. Several members raised concerns about program costs and risk, particularly modular housing. Representative Nguyen referenced reporting that the agency once auctioned defective modular homes after wildfire recovery contracts and asked how OHCS would avoid repeating that outcome; Bell acknowledged the earlier defective product and said the current program focuses on building Oregon capacity and stricter oversight. "That was a missed opportunity," Bell said, describing lessons learned from prior modular contracts.

Legislative Fiscal Office and the Chief Financial Office recommended the committee acknowledge receipt of the report. A subcommittee member moved to accept the report; the chair declared the motion carried with no roll-call tally recorded on the transcript.

Ending: OHCS will return during the committee’s budget hearings with case studies, additional pipeline details and answers to committee questions about challenges and disappointments identified in the report.