SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — Dozens of new laws passed during the 2024 legislative session took effect “91 days after recess” Thursday. The new laws include important initiatives to help Oregonians buy homes, prevent gun suicides, modernize emergency medical services, expand the semiconductor industry workforce and alleviate hunger.
“I am incredibly proud that the Legislature came together to deliver real progress for Oregonians in 2024. The legislation taking effect today takes aim at some of the most difficult moments in Oregonians’ lives and makes them easier,” Senate Majority Leader Kate Lieber (D-Beaverton and Southwest Portland) said in a news release.
“The Legislature’s job is to make Oregon a better place to live, work and raise a family. The legislation that takes effect today will put the keys to home in the hands of more working families, keep more Oregonians from going hungry and make our communities safer. I thank my colleagues for making this possible and look forward to achieving even more together in 2025,” said House Majority Leader Ben Bowman (D-Tigard/Metzger/South Beaverton).
The main provisions of the law that will come into force are as follows:
Producing more affordable housing (Senate Bill 1537)
The new legislation, introduced at the urging of Gov. Tina Kotek, would create a new revolving loan fund to provide interest-free loans to local governments to help fund the construction of affordable and moderate-income housing projects. The fund would be infused with $75 million.
The law also allows qualifying cities a one-time expansion of their urban growth boundaries. Cities with populations under 25,000 can expand by 50 acres, and cities with populations over 25,000 can expand by 100 acres. In metro areas, the limit is 300 acres. Cities must show they did comprehensive planning and permitting before expanding and prove they need both housing and land.
SB 1537 also creates the Housing Accountability and Construction Authority to assist local governments in working to meet their housing construction goals.
Support for first-time home buyers (Senate Bill 1527)
SB 1527 removes administrative barriers to give more Oregonians access to the First-Time Home Buyers Savings Account program and makes the personal income tax credit more accessible. The program allows low- and moderate-income Oregonians to use funds they deposit in the account to pay for expenses related to buying a home, such as down payments and other closing costs.
Preventing gun suicide (Senate Bill 1503)
The new law establishes the Community Safety and Firearm Suicide Prevention Task Force, a 17-member committee tasked with developing recommendations on how to reduce firearm suicides and associated community safety risks. SB 1503 identifies several issues the task force will study, including:
- How to better support Oregon youth and rural residents experiencing suicidal thoughts
- Barriers to suicide prevention support
- Barriers to implementing best practices for community safety and suicide prevention
- Why domestic violence threatens community safety and is a risk factor for suicide
- Risks to emergency personnel
Modernizing Oregon’s Emergency Medical Services (House Bill 4081)
This new law works to ensure Oregonians can get the emergency medical care they need by:
- Establishes an EMS program to administer statewide programs and improve EMS standards.
- Creates the position of State EMS Director to oversee the program.
- Form an EMS Advisory Committee to develop the program and provide advice and recommendations.
- Launch a local advisory committee to develop a plan for implementing best practices based on local resources and capabilities within the hospital trauma region.
Oregon’s semiconductor workforce expands (House Bill 4154)
In a recent report, the Semiconductor Workforce and Talent Assessment found that the semiconductor and related manufacturing industry employs approximately 31,000 workers, with an average annual salary that is approximately 2.5 times the statewide median wage. HB 4154 would require the Higher Education Coordinating Board to establish a statewide semiconductor industry consortium, establish a Semiconductor Talent Retention Fund to build an education-industry pipeline, and promote STEM in education.
Reduce hunger and ensure equal access to hot food (Senate Bill 1585)
SB 1585 creates a task force to alleviate hunger and ensure equal access to hot meals for Oregonians who are elderly, homeless, or have disabilities and who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) assistance through federal programs such as the Restaurant Meals Program (RMP). RMP is a federal optional program that states can enroll in that allows SNAP participants to purchase meals from restaurants that choose to participate in the program. Nine other states are already participating in RMP.
