In a political balancing act, Oregon lawmakers have trimmed down Gov. Tina Kotek’s ambitious housing bill, signaling a readiness to pour funds into the housing crisis, albeit not as generously as she had hoped. Kotek, who has been vocal about the housing shortfall, initially requested a whopping $600 million to bolster the state’s efforts in curbing a critical shortage of affordable homes and dealing with deepening homelessness issues. However, a Senate committee has voted to cut back the funding to $350 million. This development came as the state scrambles to address the need to build an estimated 500,000 homes within the next two decades.