Gov. Tina Kotek faces a steep challenge now the legislative session is done: making sure that hundreds of millions allocated for homelessness and drug addiction is used as intended.
Oregon lawmakers made the fentanyl addiction and overdose crisis – and homelessness – priorities for the short session. They put $211 million toward drug addiction treatment, programs and new residential facilities. Lawmakers also allocated $376 million for homeless shelters, housing, infrastructure and rent assistance.
Kotek said in a news conference Thursday that her administration will focus on making sure the money goes where it needs to go, with an eye toward equity and fairness across the state.
“The work is not done,” Kotek told reporters. “It never is, but I’m pleased with the solid start to the work before us.”
Kotek has plenty to watch. House Bill 4002, which she said she would sign, allows counties to set up treatment programs to shepherd drug users towards recovery and avoid misdemeanor charges for drug possession. Twenty-three of Oregon’s 36 counties have said they will participate, with involvement from law enforcement and addiction treatment providers.
The bill marks a return to the recriminalization of drug possession in Oregon. In 2020, the state became the first – and has remained the only – in the nation to decriminalize personal drug possession with voter approval of Measure 110. But rather than revert to the previous system, House Bill 4002 is designed to give drug users plenty of options for treatment. It only makes jail time a requirement if a defendant violates their probation agreement.
Counties, law enforcement and treatment providers will have to scramble to build the new system before the bill goes into effect in September.
Critics are concerned about the impact on minority communities, and the state’s own analysis found the bill would disproportionately harm African American communities. Kotek said her office will closely track the rollout to flag any potential disparities.
“We want to track that data and make sure that that is not happening,” Kotek said. “I think the best way to do that is to make sure people are trained and understand the expectations.”
Counties and community mental health providers will get $30.5 million to set up new programs.
‘Set some goals’
There’s also $85 million for “shovel-ready” projects to allow Oregon’s residential behavioral health facilities to expand and treat and shelter more people from urban Portland to rural communities.
“We want to have consistency across the state,” Kotek said. “We want to set some goals and expectations about what that looks like. We want to make sure the investments that were in the package for shovel-ready projects actually stay on pace.”
Oregon has a weak track record of funding and starting new behavioral health projects. In February, behavioral health providers told the Capital Chronicle they were frustrated by the Oregon Health Authority’s failure to move quickly to fund $15 million for new addiction treatment projects that lawmakers allocated in 2023.
Oregon faces a shortage of treatment beds – nearly 3,000 beds, according to a state report.
Kotek said her office has been asking the agency about the pipeline and what the delays are.
“I just want to make sure that we get resources out the door so things can get built, whether it’s new or renovation,” Kotek said.
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Ben Botkin - Oregon Capital Chronicle
Ben Botkin covers justice, health and social services issues for the Oregon Capital Chronicle. He has been a reporter since 2003, when he drove from his Midwest locale to Idaho for his first journalism job. He has written extensively about politics and state agencies in Idaho, Nevada and Oregon. Most recently, he covered health care and the Oregon Legislature for The Lund Report. Botkin has won multiple journalism awards for his investigative and enterprise reporting, including on education, state budgets and criminal justice.
