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83rd OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2025 Regular Session
House Bill 2964
Sponsored by Representative GAMBA; Representatives HARTMAN, PHAM H, Senators FREDERICK, PATTERSON,
TAYLOR (Presession filed.)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject
to consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor’s brief statement of the essential features of the
measure as introduced.The statement includes a measure digest written in compliance with applicable readability
standards.
Digest: This Act creates a temporary program for OHCS to award grants and loans for housing
prep. (Flesch Readability Score: 74.2).
Requires the Housing and Community Services Department to award grants for the predevelop-
ment costs of affordable housing and a grant to assist nonprofits receiving grants or loans under this
Act. Sunsets January 2, 2028.
Establishes the Affordable Housing Predevelopment Loan Fund. Continuously appropriates
moneys in the fund to the department to award loans for predevelopment costs of affordable housing.
Appropriates moneys from the General Fund to the department for grants and loans.
Declares an emergency, effective on passage.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to affordable housing; and declaring an emergency.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. Sections 2, 3, 5 and 6 of this 2025 Act are added to and made a part of ORS
chapter 458.
SECTION 2.(1) The Housing and Community Services Department shall award grants to
be used for the predevelopment costs of developing housing that will be subject to an
affordability restriction making the property affordable to rent or own by a low income
household, as defined in ORS 456.270, for a minimum period as established by the department.
(2) No later than June 1, 2026, the department shall complete any initial rulemaking to
administer the grant program under this section and the loan program under section 6 of
this 2025 Act. As quickly as feasible, the department shall develop the grant and loan appli-
cations and begin the solicitation of grant or loan applications under this section and section
6 of this 2025 Act.
(3) No less than 80 percent of the grants awarded under this section must be to:
(a) Public benefit and religious nonprofit corporations in this state with gross receipts
in the corporations’ first tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2024, of less than
$10,000,000 for development of projects on land owned by the grantee since at least January
1, 2025;
(b) Federally recognized Indian tribes operating within this state;
(c) Local governments, as defined in ORS 197.015;
(d) Public bodies, as defined in ORS 174.109;
(e) Housing authorities; or
(f) Developers who are partnering with an identified entity described under paragraphs
(a) to (e) of this subsection.
(4) Grants awarded under this section may not exceed $200,000 per residential develop-
NOTE:Matter in boldfaced type in an amended section is new; matter [italic and bracketed] is existing law to be omitted.
New sections are in boldfaced type.
LC 2228 HB2964
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ment.
(5) As used in this section, “predevelopment costs” has the meaning given that term
under section 6 of this 2025 Act.
SECTION 3. On or before July 1, 2026, the Housing and Community Services Department
shall award a grant to Leaven Community, a public benefit corporation, to provide technical
assistance and resources, including by making connections to nonprofit corporations that
have previously developed affordable housing, to entities that may develop affordable housing
as described in section 2 (3) or 6 (2) of this 2025 Act.
SECTION 4. Sections 2 and 3 of this 2025 Act are repealed on January 2, 2028.
SECTION 5.(1) The Affordable Housing Predevelopment Loan Fund is established in the
State Treasury, separate and distinct from the General Fund.
(2) The Affordable Housing Predevelopment Loan Fund consists of moneys appropriated,
allocated, deposited or transferred to the fund by the Legislative Assembly or otherwise and
the proceeds of loans under section 6 (4) of this 2025 Act.
(3) Moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated to the Housing and Community
Services Department for the eligible costs incurred by the department under section 6 of this
2025Act.
SECTION 6.(1) The Housing and Community Services Department shall award loans to
be used for the predevelopment costs of developing housing that will be subject to an
affordability restriction making the property affordable to rent or own by a low income
household, as defined in ORS 456.270, for a minimum period as established by the department.
(2) No less than 80 percent of the loans awarded under this section must be to:
(a) Public benefit and religious nonprofit corporations in this state with gross receipts
in the corporations’ first tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2024, of less than
$10,000,000;
(b) Federally recognized Indian tribes operating within this state;
(c) Local governments, as defined in ORS 197.015;
(d) Public bodies, as defined in ORS 174.109;
(e) Housing authorities; or
(f) Developers who are partnering with an identified entity described under paragraphs
(a) to (e) of this subsection.
(3) Loans awarded under this section may not exceed $200,000 per residential develop-
ment.
(4) Loan proceeds and other moneys recovered under this section shall be paid to the
Housing and Community Services Department and deposited into the Affordable Housing
Predevelopment Loan Fund established under section 5 of this 2025 Act.
(5) The department may adopt a process to forgive the repayment of loans made under
this section if, following the use of the loaned moneys, the borrower reasonably determines
that development of the affordable housing is not feasible.
(6) As used in this section, “predevelopment costs” include, but are not limited to, land
surveys, technical site evaluations, assembling finance packages, community engagement
efforts to build neighbor or congregation approval, conceptual plan development, traffic
studies and soft costs relating to the development including legal fees and market studies.
SECTION 7. In addition to and not in lieu of any other appropriation, there is appropri-
ated to the Housing and Community Services Department, for the biennium beginning July
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1, 2025, out of the General Fund, the amount of:
(1) $10,000,000 to provide grants under section 2 of this 2025 Act.
(2) $10,000,000 for deposit into the Affordable Housing Predevelopment Loan Fund estab-
lished under section 5 of this 2025 Act.
(3) $250,000 to provide a grant under section 3 of this 2025 Act.
(4) $125,000 to inform eligible organizations about the availability of grants and loans
under sections 2 and 6 of this 2025 Act.
SECTION 8. This 2025 Act being necessary for the immediate preservation of the public
peace, health and safety, an emergency is declared to exist, and this 2025 Act takes effect
on its passage.
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