State officials told the Senate Housing and Development Committee on April 28 that House Bill 3644 would establish a statewide shelter system to sustain and coordinate shelter capacity, rehousing and eviction‑prevention services and to provide predictable funding and accountability for outcomes.

Matthew Schawbold, Governor Kotek’s Housing and Homelessness Initiative Director, and Liz Weber, Director of the Housing Stabilization Division at Oregon Housing and Community Services, described the proposal as the policy backbone for a shelter system built on lessons from the governor’s emergency homelessness response. Weber told the committee that “the state now has 4,800 shelter beds that receive some portion of state funding. 3,300 households have been rehoused, and 24,000 households have received support that prevented them from experiencing homelessness.”

Presenters said the bill would create a rule‑making process at OHCS, open applications for regional coordinators, require regional assessments and outcomes plans, and route shelter and rehousing funds to approved regional plans. The program design emphasizes an outcomes‑based approach, regional coordination, data and technical assistance, and a mix of shelter types that can include weather‑related or temporary sites as well as year‑round facilities. Officials said the governor’s recommended budget pairs funding for shelter operations, rehousing services and eviction prevention so the state “does not lose ground” on shelter capacity while focusing longer‑term efforts on housing production.

Witnesses from local governments and service providers told the committee that a statewide, predictable funding structure is needed to sustain beds established during the emergency response and to support nontraditional shelter models. Alexander Ring, housing and land use lobbyist for the League of Oregon Cities, said the bill’s “safe temporary emergency placement sites” would provide a funding pathway for alternative local shelter models such as safe parks and tiny home villages. Jess Larson, assistant director of Washington County Department of Housing Services and a member of the sustainable shelter work group, described how local shelters and Project Turnkey sites helped keep families connected to school and services while they were sheltered.

Jimmy Jones, executive director of Mid Willamette Valley Community Action Agency, said his agency operates multiple Project Turnkey motels and a navigation center and reported high exit rates to permanent housing in his local programs. Providers and local officials who participated in the sustainable shelter work group said the bill reflects months of multi‑stakeholder work to align funding methods, service definitions and expectations across rural and urban regions.

Committee members asked about program metrics and retention; OHCS staff said they track a one‑year housing retention rate with a target of 80 percent and that the state is meeting that goal. Staff also emphasized that the legislation was drafted to preserve existing eligible shelters by using the qualifier “primarily available day and night, 7 days a week” rather than an absolute 24/7 requirement so ongoing non‑24/7 sites would remain eligible for funding.

The April 28 session was informational; the bill is paired in agency materials with proposed budget allocations for shelter, rehousing and eviction prevention and would be followed by agency rule‑making if enacted.