The Oregon Senate on Tuesday approved a proposal for a first-of-its-kind statewide rent control policy, as well as new restrictions on evictions without cause.

Senate Bill 608 breezed through the Senate after a single committee hearing with the support of a Democratic majority. The 17-11 vote went mostly along party lines, but Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, voted against the bill.

It now heads to the Oregon House, where it’s expected to have an equally friendly reception; the House in 2017 approved a bill that would have let cities set their own rent control policies, but that bill never reached the Senate floor. SB608 is co-sponsored by House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, and has the support of Gov. Kate Brown.

Republicans argued rent control would scare off investors and decrease the supply of rental housing, driving rents higher in the long run. (That’s a view shared by most economists.)

“I appreciate the hard work and the good intentions of the proponents of this rent control bill,” said Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend. But, he added, “The most likely outcome of this bill is negative consequences for the very people the proponents want to help.”

But Democrats said the bill, while not a solution by itself, would help protect renters from what Sen. Shemia Fagan, an East Portland Democrat who carried the bill, called price-gouging.

“It makes it easier for Oregonians to stay in their homes,” she said. She also said it would give confidence to renters to report problems to landlords without fear of retaliation.

With the bill’s expected passage, Oregon would become the first state to enact a statewide rent control program. In other states with rent control policies, cities enact and administer local programs.

The bill would cap annual rent increases to 7 percent plus inflation throughout the state. Annual increases in the Consumer Price Index, a measure of inflation, for Western states has ranged from just under 1 percent to 3.6 percent over the past five years.

The rent increase restrictions would exempt new construction for 15 years, and landlords would be free to raise rent without any cap if renters leave of their own accord. Subsidized rent would also be exempt.

The bill also would require most landlords to cite a cause, such as failure to pay rent or other lease violation, when evicting renters after the first year of tenancy.

Some “landlord-based” for-cause evictions would be allowed, including the landlord moving in or a major renovation. In those cases, landlords would have to provide 90 days’ notice and pay one month’s rent to the tenant, though landlords with four or fewer units would be exempt from the payment.

The bill wouldn’t lift the state ban on cities implementing their own, more restrictive rent control policies.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com; 503-294-5034; @enjus

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