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OregonSB 15212026 Regular SessionSenateWALLET

Relating to local requirements to develop affordable housing.

Sponsored By: Sponsor information unavailable

Signed by Governor

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

7 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 4 mixed.

Stevens Road Land Supports Affordable Homes

Starting January 1, 2028, Stevens Road plan approval requires at least 20 net acres for affordable housing. The land must support at least nine homes per gross residential acre and remain affordable for at least 50 years. At least 12 net acres must serve households at or below 60% of area median income, or approved income averaging. At least six net acres must serve households at or below 80%, with education-provider worker households receiving priority where lawful. On at least two more net acres, 80% of homes in each contiguous tract must meet the 80%-of-income affordability limit. At least one of those acres must carry the same worker priority where lawful. Designated parcels must transfer to the city after partition or subdivision at the legally specified price. For 99 years after purchase, city resales can recover only purchase and resale costs.

Cities Can Require More Affordable Homes

Oregon cities and counties can set prices or require affordable homes in new housing projects, with a 20% affordable-unit cap. Covered buildings generally need at least 20 homes, or 10 in the Portland metropolitan area outside Portland. Rental homes must serve households earning no more than 80% of area median income, or a lower local limit. Purchase income limits are set locally, and developers must have the option to pay a local fee instead. Earlier complete permit applications and continuing care retirement communities operating under recorded covenants are excluded. Starting January 1, 2028, cities and counties cannot enforce conflicting rules; additional changes apply January 1, 2029. The law protects specified earlier incentives, approval conditions, and developer-government agreements.

Developers Get Offsets for Affordable Rentals

Portland-area cities and counties must offer offsets to developers meeting covered rental affordability rules instead of paying the alternative fee. Cash, property-tax relief, or qualifying fee reductions must cover at least the estimated loss for a typical building type. The estimate must come from an economic analysis adopted within the past six years, not each developer’s actual losses. Waived or reduced fees must have been assessed for at least 30 of the prior 72 months. Outside Portland, affordability tied to a property-tax exemption lasting multiple years cannot outlast that exemption. Challenges to adoption of the analysis have a seven-day filing window, and prevailing local governments receive reasonable attorney fees.

Some Housing Projects Avoid Design Rules

Starting January 1, 2028, local governments cannot apply residential design standards to covered projects inside urban growth boundaries. This limit does not cover multiunit structures or projects with fewer than 20 homes. Rules on setbacks, height, accessibility, fire access, public health, water quality, cleanup, wildlife, and listed statewide planning goals remain. The amended design-standard provision is repealed January 2, 2033.

Construction Taxes Fund Affordable Housing Help

Cities and counties can retain up to 4% of covered construction-tax revenue for administration and must account for refunds. Of the remaining revenue, 50% funds developer incentives or offsets for affordable housing. Another 15% goes to the state housing agency for homeownership and down-payment help. The remaining 35% supports locally defined affordable housing programs and incentives. These required uses limit local flexibility over the money.

Housing Pilot Sales Rules Briefly Apply

Starting January 1, 2028, local governments can set affordable-home or lot sale prices on selected housing pilot sites. They can also reserve sales for specified groups of buyers. This authority ends January 2, 2028, when the law repeals specified parts of the 2016 pilot framework. The pilot rules do not authorize prohibited site uses or bringing high-value farmland inside urban growth boundaries.

Stevens Road Housing Plans Face Standards

Starting January 1, 2028, the state land-use department must approve Stevens Road planning changes that meet the law’s standards. Market-rate residential areas must allow needed housing types, including middle housing, at more than nine homes per gross residential acre. They must exceed the city housing analysis’s proportions of attached single-unit and multiunit housing. Plans must address resource protection, wildfire safety, jobs, mixed uses, utilities, financing, transportation, and earlier recommendations. The law also repeals specified provisions of the 2021 planning framework on January 2, 2030.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsors

There is no primary sponsor on record.

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 62 • No: 30

House vote • 3/4/2026

Third reading. Carried by Gamba. Passed.

Yes: 32 • No: 21

House vote • 3/3/2026

Rules: Heard and Reported Out

Yes: 4 • No: 3

Senate vote • 2/20/2026

Third reading. Carried by Pham. Passed.

Yes: 21 • No: 6

Senate vote • 2/12/2026

Housing and Development: Heard and Reported Out with Amendments

Yes: 5 • No: 0

Actions Timeline

  1. Effective date, January 1, 2027.

    4/6/2026Senate

  2. Chapter 79, 2026 Laws.

    4/6/2026Senate

  3. Governor signed.

    3/31/2026Senate

  4. Speaker signed.

    3/5/2026House

  5. President signed.

    3/5/2026Senate

  6. Third reading. Carried by Gamba. Passed.

    3/4/2026House

  7. Second reading.

    3/3/2026House

  8. Recommendation: Do pass.

    3/3/2026House

  9. Work Session held.

    3/3/2026House

  10. Public Hearing held.

    2/27/2026House

  11. Referred to Rules.

    2/24/2026House

  12. First reading. Referred to Speaker's desk.

    2/24/2026House

  13. Third reading. Carried by Pham. Passed.

    2/20/2026Senate

  14. Second reading.

    2/19/2026Senate

  15. Recommendation: Do pass with amendments. (Printed A-Eng.)

    2/18/2026Senate

  16. Work Session held.

    2/12/2026Senate

  17. Public Hearing held.

    2/5/2026Senate

  18. Referred to Housing and Development.

    2/2/2026Senate

  19. Introduction and first reading. Referred to President's desk.

    2/2/2026Senate

Bill Text

  • SHDEV Amendment -2 (Adopted)

    2/12/2026

    PDF

  • SHDEV Amendment -3 (Proposed)

    2/5/2026

    PDF

  • A-Engrossed

    PDF

  • Enrolled

    PDF

  • Introduced

    PDF

  • Senate Amendments to Introduced

    PDF

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