91ÊÓƵ

By CLAIRE RUSH
Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — During a 35-day whirlwind legislative session that adjourned Thursday night, a couple days ahead of schedule, Oregon lawmakers focused on two main priorities: housing and the environment.

Their decision to recriminalize drug possession made national headlines, and a sweeping $370 million package aimed at boosting housing production capped off months of negotiations. Measures spanning other issues, from education to the environment, also passed. Here’s a look at the major bills approved this session:

HOUSING PRODUCTION

The sole bill introduced by Gov. Tina Kotek during this year’s short legislative session was a sweeping housing measure aimed at jumpstarting home construction.

Among the many things the bill did was tweak Oregon’s unique land use law, a sacred cow of the state’s liberal politics. Passed in the 1970s, the law placed boundaries on cities in a bid to prevent suburban sprawl and protect farmland and forests.

The new bill grants cities a one-time exemption to the decades-old rule by allowing them to acquire new land for the purpose of building housing.

It requires 30 percent of new units in expansion areas to be affordable. For a period of at least 60 years, rentals must be affordable to households that earn 80 percent or less of the area median income, and homes for sale must be affordable to those who earn 130 percent or less of the area median income.

The bill also allows cities to “swap” land currently within their boundaries that is harder to develop because of steep terrain or other topographical issues with an equivalent amount of land just outside that is more suitable for residential use.

The broader housing package directs more than $370 million toward infrastructure projects that help support housing production, such as the installation or expansion of water and sewer systems. It also includes money for homeless shelters and eviction prevention in a bid to help people stay housed.

ENVIRONMENT, RIGHT TO REPAIR

Lawmakers also passed a key environmental bill that establishes how the state will spend and manage the nearly $700 million it received in a historic legal settlement over pollution associated with products made by agriculture giant Monsanto.

The 2022 settlement with Bayer, the German biotechnology and pharmaceutical company that now owns Monsanto, was the largest environmental damage recovery in Oregon’s history. Bayer said the agreement contained no admission of liability or wrongdoing and resolved all of Oregon’s claims.

Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, were used in many industrial and commercial applications — including paint, coolants, sealants and hydraulic fluids — until they were banned by Congress in the late 1970s. PCBs associated with Monsanto products still contaminate Oregon’s landfills and riverbeds and show up in fish and wildlife. The chemical compounds have been found to cause cancer in animals and are probable carcinogens for humans, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The money from the settlement will be deposited into a new fund. It will go toward environmental remediation projects and disproportionately impacted communities in order to tackle water, land and air pollution.

Kotek has yet to signal an intent to veto any of the bills. Under Oregon law, the governor has five days to veto a bill after receiving it if the Legislature is still in session. If the Legislature adjourns before those five days elapse, or if the governor receives it after the session has ended, they have 30 days to veto it.