By Katy Brooks, CEO, Bend Chamber

Article first appeared in The Bulletin on January 23, 2024

Although the 2024 legislative session will be a short 35 days, there is important work to be done. In legislative work leading up to this year’s session, it appears much of the focus will be on addressing the state’s housing needs, drug addiction treatment, childcare, and school funding. Much of this agenda intersects with business interests as they continue to struggle with escalating costs and labor stability. 

Regarding stabilizing costs, businesses are still feeling the impact of the Corporate Activity Tax (CAT), passed in 2019, and are hoping for a pause in new taxes this session that would further strain economic stability. The capacity of small businesses has also been strained by the amount of new employment and regulatory laws passed in recent years that add to costs and are burdensome to navigate.  

Teacher strikes in 2023 brought to a point the ongoing need to stabilize school funding, and this session the Senate Education Committee will consider a list of concepts to address transparency and better understand the state’s education funding needs. This will include a dive into the State School Fund formula and its educational models and will have significant impacts on students, families, and our future workforce. It will also bring back the perennial question of how we pay for education in Oregon. Employers are both supportive and very cautious about who pays for filling financial gaps since the passage of the CAT (Student Success Act).  

The housing crisis is still top of mind for employers. In a recent Bend Chamber survey, 91 percent of responding businesses said the cost of living, particularly housing, was the most significant strain on their ability to hire and retain employees, and to the viability of their business. Employers will watch with interest this year as the legislature considers recommendations from the State Housing Production Advisory Council on practical strategies to increase housing inventory more quickly. The Governor’s recently announced housing legislation reflects some of these strategies and will hopefully gain traction. One of these strategies includes allowing modest additions of buildable land into Urban Growth Boundaries for workforce housing. Bend needs to be included in this legislation because infill alone will not solve our housing shortfall.  

The legislature will also consider one of the most daunting obstacles to new housing -the cost of water, sewer, energy, broadband, and transportation infrastructure. The Governor proposed a $200 million state revolving loan program to help municipalities deal with these costs. This falls far short of the statewide need and the legislature may choose to increase funding to assist cities with extremely high infrastructure needs, including Bend. 

Key to gaining ground on housing is addressing affordability, from low-income to middle-class. Enhancing funding streams including loan and grant programs for first-time homeowners, incentivizing long-term rentals, and employer-sponsored housing projects should find their way into 2024 legislation. Addressing homelessness also needs attention. The legislature must monitor the success of investments for unhoused people, including wrap-around services like job training and permanent housing pathways.   

A related, but separate concern is the need for addiction services and public safety. Businesses and cities are keenly interested in Measure 110 reform efforts regarding addiction as they relate to treatment pathways and maintaining safety.

And affordable childcare is in this year’s legislative mix, again. The shortfall of Employment Related Day Care (ERDC) continues to affect the workforce. ERDC has more than 1,300 Oregon families on its waitlist, with a shortfall as high as $221 million by the end of the two-year budget cycle in 2025. Governor Kotek has called for $59 million to address the waitlist but falls far short of demand. Lawmakers can help alleviate the shortfall by incentivizing co-located childcare in housing and employment areas and addressing the need for more after-school and summer care.  

And finally, we need the legislature to support economic stability. Few tools are available in Oregon to help us attract and retain businesses and employers. Unfortunately, one of these tools is Enterprise Zones, which is at risk of obsolescence as the legislature continues to water it down. Additionally, the legislature’s reauthorization of the state’s Industrial Site Readiness Program could help struggling municipalities finance employment lands.  

In sum, we are hoping for measurable outcomes in the 2024 short session that make headway on our state’s most pressing issues. This needs to be accomplished while doing no harm to the economy or placing an unbalanced burden on employers.