(Update: adding comment from Mayor Kebler and executive director of RootedHomes)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler traveled to the state Capitol Tuesday to testify on behalf of Senate Bill 1530 , which allocates funding for affordable housing, homelessness prevention and emergency shelter services, among other elements.
The primary focus of Mayor Kebler’s trip was to advocate before the Senate Committee on Housing & Development for $65 million in shelter funding. Mayor Pro Tem Megan Perkins, who serves as chair of Deschutes the Coordinated Houseless Response Office, joined Mayor Kebler on the trip to Salem.
If the bill does not pass the Legislature, Kebler said Wednesday, Bend will lose crucial funding to homeless services, such as funding for shelters.
If that happens, she said, “We’re going to see hundreds of people back on the streets. So we don’t want to lose those resources, and we need the state’s help to continue them. Our city budget can’t sustain continuing to fund operations for these.”