Oregon Minimum Wage

Protesters pound on the walls outside of the House Chamber in the Capitol Building, in Salem , Ore., on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. The group were calling for local control of rent control laws, higher minimum wage and an end to homeless camp sweeps.

(Timothy J. Gonzalez/AP Photo)

Tina Kotek

Oregon has a housing crisis, and it is our shared responsibility to solve it.

The instability caused by evictions and the lack of affordable housing are not new issues -- low-income people and communities of color can attest to that. But the depth and breadth of the problem has finally made it too big to ignore, especially as more people move here while current public policies fail to keep up with the times.

The Legislature made some progress in this year's session. We prioritized additional spending and made a handful of systemic changes. I'm glad we made progress, but I'm not satisfied. We need to talk next steps about what more we can do to solve this crisis.

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on Rep. Tina Kotek's proposal to lift the state's rent-control ban.

For the Legislature, the "next steps" mean returning to unfinished business around tenant protections. It means expanding the investments we made in the last two sessions. It means helping communities do their part.

Frankly, it means things are going to get uncomfortable. Discomfort and determination are necessary when dealing with a crisis. We all need to be up to the task.

Here's one uncomfortable but very real problem: Some developers and property owners are making excessive profit and benefiting from this housing crisis. Some may shrug and say that's simply supply and demand. But that doesn't make it right, and it certainly doesn't work for the Oregonians feeling the full brunt of this crisis.

The foreclosure epidemic and Great Recession pushed a tidal wave of Americans into the rental market as construction of housing slowed, thus increasing competition for rental housing. Now, nearly a decade later, we have a booming economy and rapidly growing population, yet far too many Oregonians can't afford a safe, decent place to call home. Meanwhile, evictions have skyrocketed as some owners make way for new tenants with bigger salaries or evict entire buildings with plans to renovate and join the luxury apartment market.

Our housing crisis is a man-made emergency that demands bold action. We have privileged the right to make a profit on property far above the universal human right to safe, stable housing. We have a market where a select few own multiple homes while unprecedented numbers of people are unsheltered or at risk of homelessness with every rent increase. This is not the Oregon we want.

We need to reset the scales and pass policies that will help prevent homelessness, protect tenants and preserve the affordable housing we have. And we need to increase the housing stock going forward. To that end, I believe the state needs to take an aggressive stance in the 2017 legislative session.

First, we need to take bold steps to increase equity and fairness for renters. As rents rise in hot markets -- in Portland, Bend, Eugene and across the state -- people are displaced to surrounding communities, which ultimately drives up rents regionally. Too many property owners are taking advantage of the market conditions by evicting tenants, raising rents and finding new people who can pay more.

What does this mean for the Oregonians who are evicted? They are typically poor, often women, and disproportionately people of color. Their whole lives are suddenly disrupted, their kids may have to switch schools mid-year, and with an eviction on their record, their search for an available, affordable place to move will likely be extremely difficult or, tragically, impossible.

Next session, we need to change the law so we only have "just cause" evictions, because it will help stabilize communities and protect tenants from unjust, no-cause evictions.

Here's another problem we need to address: Rents are skyrocketing, but wages are not keeping up. We raised the minimum wage, but that won't be enough to make up the gap. More than a quarter of renters in Oregon pay 50 percent or more of their household income on rent, leaving them with less and less money to pay for food, medicine and transportation.

Next session, rent stabilization will be on the docket. We can no longer avoid this discussion. I will fight for a statewide ban on rent increases above a reasonable percentage until the housing crisis subsides.

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We also need to increase the number of units available to meet demand and stabilize rents in the long-term. However, with an estimated statewide shortage of almost 100,000 units for extremely low-income people alone, it will take years to catch up. In the meantime, families shouldn't have their lives destroyed simply because some owners believe the market will bear it.

Our community can't bear it. Our neighbors can't bear it.

We need to come together to have the difficult, honest conversations that will lead us to meaningful solutions. It's time to prioritize the human right to safe, affordable housing.

Democratic Rep. Tina Kotek is speaker of the Oregon House and represents North and Northeast Portland.