Republican and Democratic legislative leaders Wednesday reiterated their priorities for the 35-day 2024 session that begins Monday are bills that will increase building more affordable housing to prevent more people from entering homelessness and address Oregon’s addiction crisis.
Both parties introduced proposals on addiction last week that would change a key part of Ballot Measure 110 which voters passed in 2020 and ended the criminalization of small amounts of drugs.
Gov. Tina Kotek’s top priority will be a $500 million housing production bill to jumpstart housing production, and reintroducing aspects of a bill that died at the end of the 2023 legislative session. Party leaders also said they would introduce legislation to boost housing production.
Re-criminalizing drug possession in Oregon
House Bill 4002, the Democrats’ proposal following committee meetings since the 2023 Legislature ended, would reintroduce penalties for the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs, give law enforcement the clear ability to legally confiscate drugs, and impose harsher penalties on dealers.