by Sara Odendahl, Director of Government Affairs & Strategic Initiatives

Throughout the 2025 session, we are sharing highlights on key issues and Chamber priorities from Salem. This week, we’re focusing on housing production and infrastructure funding.  

The 2025 session has passed the halfway mark with the first major bill deadline behind us. This deadline signaled the end of approximately 1,000 bills that failed to move out of committee. The Chamber is still tracking approximately 150 bills, including several priority bills related to housing production and infrastructure funding.  

HB 2138: Middle Housing (Support) — The measure expands and streamlines middle housing requirements, applies them to more jurisdictions and certain unincorporated areas, clarifies definitions, and sets new deadlines for local governments to update land use regulations accordingly. It removes private covenants restricting middle housing or accessory dwelling units, eases traffic analysis requirements for small middle housing developments, and allows density bonuses for projects that include accessible or affordable units. The measure revises and simplifies the expedited land division process, limiting public notice and appeals, and requires local governments to process certain partitions as expedited if requested. It allows single-room occupancies to be developed in greater numbers where multiunit housing is allowed, with capped parking requirements. It also directs the Land Conservation and Development Commission to adopt rules by 2028. The bill is currently awaiting a vote on the House Floor.  

HB 3031: Housing Infrastructure Funding (Support) — The measure creates a program to provide financial assistance for infrastructure projects that support housing developments in the form of grants, loans, or forgivable loans to cities, counties, county service districts, special districts, intergovernmental entities, and federally recognized Tribal councils in Oregon. The measure requires housing to be affordable for very low-income, low-income, or moderate-income households for at least 10 years for rental housing, with priority given to projects with 30-year affordability. The bill is currently awaiting a vote in the Joint Ways and Means Committee.  

HB 3746: Condo Liability Reform (Support) — The measure reforms the process for handling construction defect claims, particularly for homeowner’s associations (HOAs) and condominium associations. It sets time limits within which a homeowners or condominium association may bring a tort claim for construction defects. The measure also mandates independent inspections for moisture intrusion at two key milestones, two years and six years after substantial completion, and requires the developer to provide inspection results to the association. The bill is currently awaiting a vote on the House Floor.  

SB 967: Local Improvement Districts (Support) — The measure authorizes local governments to enter into agreements governing local improvements located in, or planned to be located within, unincorporated areas within a city’s urban growth boundary. The bill passed the Senate and is awaiting a vote in the House Housing and Homelessness Committee.  

SB 974: Land Use Application Review Timeline (Support) — The measure establishes timelines for the review and approval process for final engineering plans for residential development within urban growth boundaries. The measure also defines urban housing applications and exempts projects developing 20 or more residential lots from specific aesthetic and design reviews, with optional waivers for smaller projects. The bill is awaiting a vote on the Senate Floor.  

The next step for many of these bills is the second chamber where public testimony is taken in committee, and an opportunity to engage in the process. For more information on these or other bills, opportunities for engagement on the Bend Chamber’s Legislative Agenda, please contact Sara Odendahl, Director of Government Affairs, sara@bendchamber.org