In Episode 17 of the Oregon D.O.G.E. podcast, Senator Bruce Starr, Senator Dick Anderson, and Representative Vikki Breese-Iverson sit down for a raw and data-backed conversation about Oregon’s failing housing system. While billions are poured into programs through the Oregon Housing and Community Services department, key metrics continue to worsen. Oregon now ranks:
- #1 in family homelessness
- #42 in median home affordability
- #45 in housing affordability and home building
With those facts on the table, this episode explores why we’re falling behind and what’s really preventing new homes from being built.
Key Issues Covered
1. Executive Orders Aren’t Building Homes
Governor Kotek’s goal of 36,000 new homes a year is falling flat. Despite setting a benchmark, the numbers reveal an alarming trend:
- Permits issued dropped from 20,000 to 13,000 in just a few years.
- Production is declining, not increasing — the opposite of what’s needed.
2. Oregon’s Land Use System Is Choking Development
The state’s rigid urban growth boundary (UGB) model, rooted in 1973’s Senate Bill 100, is blocking meaningful growth. Only 1.3% of Oregon’s land mass is within UGBs — and even that land is difficult to develop due to overlapping regulations and city-level resistance.
As Rep. Breese-Iverson says:
“If we don’t have the land, we don’t get the homes.”
3. Government Bureaucracy Is the Bottleneck
Developers routinely face 3+ years of regulatory delays just to get land permitted — before a single home is built. SB 974 introduces a “shot clock” to force action within 1 year, but many cities and agencies are pushing back.
What’s more: the same groups advocating for affordable housing are often the ones blocking streamlining efforts.
4. Government Spending ≠ Market Solutions
Oregon Housing and Community Services is spending over $4 billion — yet homelessness is rising, and housing prices are out of reach for working families. Much of this money goes to nonprofits, with little accountability or impact on supply.
Instead of directing taxpayer dollars to build more homes, the state is bogged down in rent control, subsidies, and regulations that actually raise costs.
5. Prevailing Wage Rules Are Driving Up Costs
One especially damaging development: applying prevailing wage standards — originally intended for public works — to private housing projects when state involvement exists (e.g. infrastructure loans). This policy is making even modest housing developments unaffordable to build, especially in rural Oregon.
As Rep. Breese-Iverson notes:
“We’re pushing developers out of the very spaces we want them in.”
What’s the Solution?
The hosts don’t just identify the problems — they outline real, actionable reforms:
- Land access reform (inside and outside UGBs)
- Regulatory shot clocks to speed up permitting
- Strategic infrastructure investment at the state level
- Targeted removal of prevailing wage requirements on private housing projects
- Broad-spectrum housing focus — not just low-income or subsidized projects
Their message is clear: Oregon needs more housing of all types, and the only way to get there is to get government out of the way where it’s causing harm.