Under pressure to respond to the rising cost of housing, the state's landlord lobby is circulating a proposal to create a $25 million annual Oregon renter assistance program. Like Section 8-style vouchers, the program would pay a portion of the rent for low-income tenants, funded by auctioning tax credits to businesses. It could help 20,000 renters a year if on average the fund awards $100 a month to each renter, says John DiLorenzo, a lobbyist for landlord group Equitable Housing PAC. Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek, who is championing legislation to allow rent control and end no-cause evictions, is skeptical. "A new, complicated, taxpayer-funded giveaway to landlords would simply allow them to keep raising rents," she says. "This proposal is a deliberate attempt to mislead the public and make it appear as if certain property owners are trying to do something about the crisis." DiLorenzo says his group is looking for solutions that will help "households in need," and that Kotek's plan won't work.