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The Oregon House passed the bill to require cities to stop excluding duplexes and other housing types from neighborhoods now zoned for single-family homes.
House Bill 2001 requires cities over 25,000 to allow duplexes, triplexes and quads in neighborhoods zoned for single-family housing. Cities of 10,000 or more must allow duplexes, under the bill.
It's the second piece of high-profile housing legislation championed by the Oregon Speaker of the House, Tina Kotek, who earlier this session passed a first-in-the-nation statewide cap on rent increases.
This bill addresses the issue of housing supply.
"Our crisis is statewide," Kotek said on the floor before a 43-16 vote, with 15 Republicans voting for it, and nine Democrats voting against it. "We don't have enough housing for our communities….It really is about a lack of housing supply."
Oregon would be the first to pass such a sweeping bill, as WW reported in December. The city of Minneapolis, notably, passed a bill in December to end single-family zoning.
Related: Could Oregon Become the First State to Ban Single-Family Zoning?
The efforts have received widespread national media attention, including this week from the New York Times, which mapped cities' zoning across the country.
Supporters of the bill argue that it can decrease the cost of housing, provide more affordable housing options in exclusive neighborhoods and thus diversify neighborhoods both economically and racially. Neighborhood groups in Portland and elsewhere have balked.
The bill faces an uncertain support in the Oregon Senate. Republicans have blocked any bills from being considered today by not showing up to the work for the second time this session and denying Democrats a quorum. The bill is expected to need Republican support to pass in the Senate.