Why won’t they leave us alone! In preparation for the February Special Legislative Session, a draft bill has been introduced (LC 22) which would create a statewide property tax! It would allow politicians to set the property tax rates instead of the presumably existing system of letting local county voters and local neighborhoods decide. Who better to decide your property…
A new Oregon law that bans so-called “love letters,” personal notes from prospective homebuyers to home sellers, has drawn a lawsuit seeking to invalidate it on First Amendment grounds before it takes effect in 2022. The lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Portland by the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation says the Oregon Legislature had no justification for making…
HB 2918 VOTE: NO Signed into Law by Gov Brown on 07/27/2021 Status (overview) of bill: https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2021R1/Measures/Overview/HB2918 This bill requires state agencies, transit providers, and transportation districts to prepare and submit to the Department of Land Conservation and Development a list of surplus real property owned by an agency or district that is inside an urban growth boundary or that…
HB 2007 VOTE: NO Signed into Law by Gov Brown on 07/19/2021 Status (overview) of bill: https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2021R1/Measures/Overview/HB2007 This bill requires mortgage loan originators applying for or renewing a license to complete continuing education requirements including on topics of implicit bias and racial bias. Allows Dept. of Consumer & Business Services to establish educational requirements on implicit bias and racial bias….
Affordable housing would increase across Oregon and the nation, under a bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley Tuesday (6-29-21). Named the Affordable HOME Act, it would lower housing costs, reduce chronic homelessness, address discriminatory housing policies, and support emergency housing, if enacted. The bill would provide assistance to renters and homeowners by investing in programs geared toward bridging gaps…
HB 2550 VOTE: NO Signed into Law by Gov Brown on 06/23/21 Status (overview) of bill: https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2021R1/Measures/Overview/HB2550 This bill directs seller’s agent to redact or withhold communication from buyer to seller as necessary to help seller avoid selecting buyer based on buyer’s race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status or familial status or in violation of federal…
BEYOND RIDICULOUS*!!!! There is just one more step before a controversial bill, that could change the way many people buy homes, becomes law. If signed by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, House Bill 2550 will ban the practice of ‘love letters’ during a home sale (emphasis added). The measure is to help avoid buyer selection based on race, sex, or religion…
The Legislature issued an eviction order to itself on Monday, saying it had to wrap up its work and get out of the Capitol in under two weeks. The official session calendar given to lawmakers says Friday is the target date to go home. With fatigued lawmakers and staff eyeing the exits, the buzz that the House and Senate were…
Highlights, excerpts from Sen. Boquist newsletter The establishment legislature is racing to pass higher budgets along with end run bills against citizens then flee the closed Oregon State Capitol. Follow bills on OLIS, and in Joint Ways and Means – a 5000 series bill is a budge bill. This past week, I voted against most of the state budget bills, some containing…
Oregon communities, counties, now must re-write their laws by July 1, 2023 to accommodate homeless camping on public lands. (HB 3115) As reported by multiple sources, Oregon governments now must allow individuals to sit, lie, sleep, keep warm and dry on public lands. The bill requires local and county governments to modify their laws and ordinances to be in line…
The flood gates opened this year with a tidal wave of bills targeting the rental industry. After many hearings, work groups and discussions with legislators here is where we sit on the most important bills. Thank you to all those who volunteered to write their legislators and/or testify to the committees. It truly made a difference. HB 2484 – This…
Hundreds of emergency shelter beds for people experiencing homelessness could pop up across Oregon in the next year if the State Legislature approves a bill to remove cumbersome zoning rules and demand that cities approve new facility proposals. House Bill 2006 would remove a tangle of land-use approvals and paperwork typically needed to open a shelter, which advocates say currently…
