Oregon House passes bills on housing preservation, Planned Parenthood funding, farm stores and AI safeguards

The Oregon House spent its March 4 floor session clearing a wide range of measures, approving bills to preserve at-risk affordable housing, create a state reimbursement mechanism for Planned Parenthood services affected by federal changes, expand farm-store and agritourism rules, tighten public meetings definitions, and require safety checks for AI chat systems used by young people.

Representative Marsh moved concurrence and the House repassed a number of bills the Senate had amended, while the chamber also took final passage votes on bills that came up for third reading. On housing, lawmakers approved House Bill 4036 to establish the Housing Opportunity, Longevity and Durability (HOLD) Fund to preserve existing affordable units at risk of losing affordability. Representative Marsh said the measure "establishes the Housing Opportunity, Longevity and Durability Fund ' to preserve affordable housing, including manufactured housing parks that are at risk" and noted an initial program administration allocation included in the bill.

Health-care access and federal funding shifts drew the most sustained debate. Representative Bowman, sponsor of House Bill 4127, said the…