Join us alongside Central Oregon LandWatch and Renewable Northwest as we talk land use and data centers at the Governor's Data Center Advisory Committee meeting on Friday, April 24. View the full agenda and get the meeting link: www.oregon.gov/energy/Get-I...
We're teaming up with @sightline.org to help break down the technicalities and complexities of the OHNA process so that every Oregon community has the tools to engage with it.
Help us achieve this by filling out a quick survey. Link in bio to fill it out. Please complete the survey by April 27!
HUD’s proposed rule would force mixed-status families to choose between staying housed and staying together, while adding harmful new documentation barriers that could put millions at risk of losing assistance.
Submit public comment by April 21 to oppose this rule: housingoregon.org/oppose-huds-...
This Wednesday, Portland City Council will consider a resolution regarding the Inner Eastside for All campaign which would allow for more home types in Portland's inner east side. Join us and @pnwelcome.bsky.social for a rally outside City Hall at 5PM followed by a hearing at 6.
A background of bright sunflowers completely fills the screen. A black and white cutout of Paul Gerhardt Jr's head is over the background. White bold text reads: Apply now! Be our next Gerhardt intern
A background of bright sunflowers completely fills the screen. Yellow boxes with dark blue text read: Looking for hands-on experience in land use planning, housing, transportation, and climate-focused policy? Are you an undergrad or graduate student focused on planning or a related field?
A background of bright sunflowers completely fills the screen. A yellow box with dark blue text reads: The Gerhardt internship at 1000 Friends of Oregon offers a unique opportunity to work alongside expert staff on real projects shaping Oregon's future. White text underneath the box reads: And it's paid
A background of bright sunflowers completely fills the screen. A yellow box with dark blue text reads: 10-week paid internship (30 hours per week). $5500 stipend and limited travel support. Based in Portland but can work remotely. Apply by April 19
Be our next Gerhardt intern! Work on real issues shaping Oregon's future with our expert staff, gain valuable experience, and create assets to kickstart your career in planning, land use, housing, or a related field (and get paid!). Apply by April 19: friends.org/gerhardt
The Keep Portlanders Housed package would direct $55 million toward eviction prevention, renter stabilization, and affordable housing production. Portland City Council’s Housing and Permitting Committee will consider this on April 7. Submit written testimony by 2 pm tomorrow or show up to testify.
And special thanks to everyone supporting the next generation of land use leaders through our LULI program. We could not do this work without the East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District and @aarporegon.bsky.social
Our LULI crew paid a visit to the Dear Portland exhibit as part of our segment on housing production on Saturday. After an engaging debrief, we continued the conversation with Portland City Councilor Mitch Green and Metro President Duncan Hwang. Thank you for your housing policy expertise!
Going up! How to get more elevators as we win more homes Join us for a virtual conversation on Friday, April 10. 11a PT | 12p MT | 1p CT | 2p ET Cassie Wilson 1000 Friends of Oregon Shane Boland Owen Gabbert LLC Uytae Lee About Here Videos
Elevators are a key ingredient to homebuilding. How can we get more of them?
On April 10, we’re hosting a webinar with @welcomingneighbors.us to get into it.
Register: www.sightline.org/going-up-or-...
Join us and Fair Housing Council of Oregon on April 6 for an interactive teach-in to kick-off Earth Month & Fair Housing Month. We'll also have the chance to explore the Dear Portland exhibit presented by Humans for Housing. Get your free tickets: https://shorturl.at/tivS6
Another session is in the books! If you want all the details on what went down in Salem concerning land use bills, join our legislative recap webinar on March 31. This is a members only event! Are you a new member or haven't joined yet? Email Sofia@Friends.org
Next week! Our Oregon for Everyone Manager Jacky Lee will be speaking in Corvallis on efforts, progress, and challenges around addressing homelessness in Benton County. Join them and a panel of other experts at the Corvallis-Benton County library on March 18.
We kicked off the 2026 LULI last weekend, welcoming a diverse cohort of participants with extensive backgrounds and deep passions. We can't wait to see what this season holds, and we couldn't do this program without the support of East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District and AARP Oregon
It's Sine Die! In our final episode of Legislative Tea, our Legislative Manager Cassie Wilson runs through the death of SB 1586 (Hillsboro supersiting) and the passage of HB 4153 (farm stores), as well as a host of other bills and budget items we tracked this session: youtu.be/5oTBoXvYRDs
Image of a green grassy field with a stack of hay bales and forest in the distance. Text over the photo reads: Thank you for your advocacy. SB 1586 is dead. For now, 1700 acres of the world's best farm land remain in rural reserves, and corporate land giveaways have been prevented
Thanks to you, legislators did not move forward with SB 1586. THANK YOU for your consistent advocacy on preventing corporate land grabs of some of the best farm land in the world.
You packed hearing rooms and submitted nearly 900 pieces of written testimony! You showed up and it mattered.
SB 1551 Fire Hardened Homes Act: Support. HOAs would no longer be able to prohibit installing or maintaining fire-hardened materials on and around homes and property. HOAs would also no longer be allowed to prohibit the removal of non fire-hardened fences or other structures from an owner’s property
HB 4063 legalizing Kei trucks: Support. Legalizes the use of Kei trucks, Japanese-made utility trucks, on Oregon roads by requiring that they be titled and registered with the state. Kei trucks are also a much safer vehicle than many newer pickup trucks, which continue to increase in size and height
HB 4023 increasing barriers to local transit funding: Oppose. Would remove the ability for mass transit districts to raise revenue in their district without taking it to the ballot for a vote.
HB 4008 transit funding task force. Establishes a task force for the legislative interim to explore options to raise revenue for public transportation across Oregon.
SB 1543 Guardrails for Good Governance: Support. Establishes the first-ever debt management policy for the Oregon Department of Transportation. Requires more information and transparency—especially to the public and the Oregon Transportation Commission when ODOT is deciding to take on new debt.
SB 1542 Measure What We Drive: Support. ODOT has never received legislative direction and flexibility to spend transportation dollars in a way that aligns with Oregon’s goals. This bill aligns with some of the work ODOT is already doing to plan better and crucially gives ODOT direction.
Reinstate funding for Japanese beetle eradication: Support. The Japanese beetle is a major threat to Oregon’s nursery and greenhouse industry. It targets numerous plants. Before "defunding," the Oregon Department of Agriculture was well on the way towards eradication.
Maintain OAHP funding: Support. The Oregon Agricultural Heritage Program (OAHP) has provided millions of dollars (and attracted millions more in federal funding) for farm and ranch landowners to create easements that permanently protect their land and ensure it remains in production.
HB 4153 allowing farm stores as nonfarm use on EFU land: Oppose. The bill allows large, permanent multi-use structures for nonfarm retail sales, food and beverage service, and unlimited events on agricultural land without safeguards to ensure that agriculture remains the primary use of the property.
SB 1561 replacement dwellings on farm land: Oppose as currently proposed. Allows an alternate method for a property owner to demonstrate they had a house on rural lands, which was damaged or destroyed by natural or involuntary causes, and therefore is entitled to be replaced.
SB 1578 rural residential development on resource land: Oppose. Overrides land use and environmental laws by allowing rural counties to rezone up to 50 acres of farm or forest lands for residential development with a density of at least five houses per acre.
SB 1586 Hillsboro industrial supersiting: Oppose. For the sixth time, legislators are attempting to bring 1,700 acres of prime and high-value farmland into the Hillsboro urban growth boundary outside the established urban growth boundary expansion process and without any public involvement.
HB 4035 expanding criteria for UGB expansion path from 2024: Oppose as currently proposed. Allows more cities to skirt the regular UGB expansion laws and use the shortcut provided by SB 1537 by allowing expansion on to farm and forest lands in certain circumstances. We are working on changes.
HB 4108 annexation in UGBs: Support. Allows cities to annex non-contiguous, residentially-zoned land inside the UGB. This removes an outdated annexation barrier that limits housing production and redevelopment opportunities on land that already functions as part of the city.
HB 4036 affordable housing preservation: Support. Over 10,000 existing affordable homes are at risk of being lost in the next five years. This Fund will protect tenants from losing their homes, preserve existing affordable homes, and lessen the likelihood of people becoming homeless.