Representatives of the Oregon Housing Alliance and partner organizations presented a set of budget priorities to the Senate Housing and Development Committee on April 28 focused on homelessness prevention, preservation of existing affordable housing, manufactured‑home park preservation, and expanded access to affordable homeownership.

Sybil Hebb of the Oregon Law Center supported the governor’s Policy Option Package (POP) 504, which she said would allocate continuing funding — she cited $63,500,000 — to sustain homelessness prevention operations and infrastructure. Hebb told the committee the Oregon Law Center and community partners use that funding to provide legal assistance and to connect tenants with rental assistance programs; she noted recent eviction‑filing data, saying, “In the last 12 months, there were more than 27,000 eviction filings in Oregon.”

Speakers from community action agencies and local jurisdictions emphasized the role of rental assistance and prevention services (POP 505 and POP 504), described high utilization of city‑supported shelters, and said maintaining staffing and case management is critical to preserving housing stability. Molly Heiss of Neighbor Impact, Amy Fraley of the City of Bend and Jimmy Jones of Mid Willamette Valley Community Action Agency described how rental assistance and navigation centers have reduced unsheltered homelessness and supported transitions to permanent housing in their regions.

Housing Oregon asked the legislature to reallocate $100 million of a proposed LIFT rental proposal toward preservation, seeking a total of $285 million for preservation through a combination of general obligation and lottery‑backed bonds, citing rising distress among older affordable housing projects. CASA of Oregon asked for $25 million in bond financing to preserve manufactured‑home parks and convert them to resident‑owned cooperatives, which CASA said would preserve affordability for vulnerable residents.

On homeownership, witnesses urged support for programs in the governor’s recommended budget: Amplify Oregon (safe, affordable mortgages for community land trusts), the LIFT for Homeownership program, a Homeownership Development Incubator Program (HDIP), and down‑payment and matched‑savings (IDA) supports. Karen Sachs of DevNW and others described bank matches and local partnerships that have supported these homeownership tools. Witnesses said predictable, ongoing funding is needed to sustain program pipelines and to reach first‑time and workforce buyers.

The presentation covered multiple program proposals and dollar figures included in governor and coalition materials; the April 28 meeting was informational and no committee votes were taken on these budget items that day.