PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — In her first full day as Oregon’s chief executive, Gov. Tina Kotek held a press conference on Tuesday, during which she signed three executive orders to address the state’s housing and homelessness crises.
The first executive order establishes a statewide goal of building 36,000 housing units per year and creates the Housing Production Advisory Council. Kotek said the council will be tasked with creating a budget and policy recommendations to reach that goal.
The governor added that the 36,000-unit goal will be an 80% increase over recent construction trends. She said meeting this goal will require collaboration between local, state and federal partners.
“The housing construction goal is ambitious because Oregonians are demanding bold solutions to address this crisis. I set this target to reflect the level of need that exists, knowing that we will not get there over night or even in one year,” Kotek said.
Kotek said this order will take the framework of an “emergency management structure” similar to when there is a natural disaster.
“We all have to work together in a new framework if we’re going to make progress,” Kotek said. “There are good things happening on the ground today and we need more solutions, we need more urgency.”
The second executive order declares a state of emergency due to homelessness in “regions of the state that have experienced an increase in unsheltered homelessness of 50% or more from 2017 to 2022,” Kotek said, adding, “unfortunately, that includes most of the state.”
The third executive order, Kotek said, will work in tandem with the others to direct state agencies to prioritize reducing unsheltered and sheltered homelessness in the state, not only in areas under the state of emergency.
During the press conference, Kotek said in the week after the election, she met with Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson to discuss how the leaders can work together.
“We need to make sure that every dollar, every resource is actually showing progress,” Kotek said.
While addressing housing and homelessness, Kotek said a key part of tackling the issue includes behavioral health — saying it will be a top priority in her budge which will be released in February.
“We have to make sure that when people are ready for services, can we connect them to services? Is the workforce there to serve them?” Kotek said — adding she’s “excited” for the new leadership at the Oregon Health Authority.
“We are going to put as much urgency into that side of the challenge as well as the housing and shelter side,” Kotek stated.
Kotek, took the oath for a 4-year term on Monday. In her inaugural address at the state Capitol in Salem, Kotek also proposed a $130 million emergency investment to help unsheltered people move off the streets.
During Tuesday’s press conference, Kotek said “we have to bring urgency to this. It’s not enough to sign executive orders. So, that $130 million investment, I will be encouraging our legislative leaders to work with me to move those resources as soon as possible to prevent more people from becoming unhoused, to help create more transitional shelter and to provide more services to those folks who are living on the streets.”
The governor also pledged to unite Oregonians after a bitterly fought gubernatorial race — the tightest in a decade — in which Republicans sought to break the Democrats’ dominance of the state. She said she plans to visit every county in Oregon during her first year in office.
Kotek was a state representative from 2006 until 2022, when she resigned to run for governor. During her time in the Legislature, she became the longest-serving speaker in Oregon history after nine years in the role and cemented her status as a key player in state politics, earning a reputation for cutting deals and muscling bills through the state House.
Lawmakers also were sworn in on Monday. Democrats still control both chambers of the Legislature, but they lost their three-fifths supermajority in November’s election.
The Associated Press contributed to this report