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Oregon State University won approval from the Oregon Legislature for $39 million in state-backed bonds to construct a second academic building at its Cascades campus in Bend.

The state funding for the Bend campus construction has been long in coming.

鈥淔unding for this academic building will allow us to serve our mission in Oregon, and especially in Central Oregon, where there are no other four-year university options closer than three hours,鈥� OSU President Ed Ray said in a news release.

Plans for the 55,000-square-foot academic building call for laboratory facilities, kinesiology and engineering program space, classrooms and faculty offices. The building is viewed as part of a larger expansion to provide higher education to Central Oregon’s fast-growing population. Construction is expected to begin in summer 2019, with the building scheduled to open to students in fall 2021.

The bond funding was one of the highlights from the Oregon Legislature’s 27-day short session, which concluded on Saturday.

鈥淚t was a phenomenally successful short session,鈥� Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer, D-Portland, said. 鈥淲e had done a lot of planning ahead of time on the bills and had a lot of partners. We brought forth things that had a lot of support.鈥�

Affordable housing advocates celebrated the passage of increased funding. A bill passed that raises the document recording fee for real estate transactions to $60, up from $20. Money generated can be used for developing and preserving affordable housing, addressing homelessness and providing emergency housing assistance. The law requires 25 percent of the money to go to veterans.

In the past, money from the fee has been used to build affordable housing in rural towns such as North Bend and Klamath Falls.

鈥淚ncreasing the document recording fee is a great opportunity for us to build affordable housing all over Oregon,鈥� said Alison McIntosh, spokeswoman for the Oregon Housing Alliance.

The same bill also allows Oregonians to create first-time homebuyer savings accounts. The accounts enable prospective homebuyers to save up to $50,000 in tax-free earnings in a 10-year period.

The accounts are limited to buyers with up to $187,000 in taxable income for those filing jointly, or $131,000 for filing singly.

Oregon ranks 43rd in the nation for homeownership rate, Keny-Guyer said. The bill earned the avid support of the Realtors lobby.

鈥淲e know that homeownership is really a key for climbing out of poverty, for stability,鈥� Keny-Guyer said.

Democrats who control the Legislature stayed away from controversial housing topics that have run aground in the past, including attempts to end the statewide pre-emption on rent control.

Tenant advocates are likely to be busy in 2019 with efforts to replicate their success enacting rules limiting no-cause evictions in Portland on a statewide scale.

鈥淲e’re still hearing that that’s a growing problem all around the state, and it’s starting to spread in more rural areas of the state,鈥� McIntosh said.

Increasingly, tenants on the Oregon coast are being displaced during the summer months by landlords who turn apartments into more lucrative short-term rentals for the tourist season, McIntosh said.

The 2019 session could also be dominated by discussion of cap and trade legislation. House Speaker Tina Kotek and Senate President Peter Courtney have announced they’re forming a Joint Committee on Carbon Reduction to study carbon reduction with an eye toward passing legislation during next year’s session.