The Supportive Housing Services (SHS) funding has been a lifeline for thousands of individuals and families in our region, providing essential resources to address homelessness and housing instability since 2020. As our community plans for the future of this important funding resource, we are advocating for reforms to ensure its sustainability, equity, and positive impact for decades to come.

Our Shared Vision

Every person deserves a safe, stable place to call home. This belief guided the creation of the SHS measure and continues to drive our coalition’s vision for its future. Over the past year, HereTogether has worked with local governments, business leaders, service providers, and advocates to shape a reform proposal that strengthens this essential funding source.

Key Reforms

HereTogether’s proposed reforms reflect our commitment to ensuring that SHS funding is effective, efficient, and equitable. Key recommendations include:

• Prioritizing Core Services: Ensuring the program continues to focus on vital services for individuals experiencing or at risk of chronic homelessness, including services, rental assistance, shelter, and outreach.
• Building More Housing: Expanding SHS’s scope to expand the amount of deeply affordable housing as a secondary use of funds, ensuring that new housing complements the program’s services and directly supports the same population.
• Improving Governance: Establish a single Metro-led oversight body to oversee SHS with transparency and impartiality. This body will set regional performance metrics and ensure funds are used effectively, fostering confidence in the program.
• Reforming Tax Policy for Stability and Fairness:
• Preventing New Burdens on Middle-Income Households: Adjusting personal income tax thresholds to reflect inflation, ensuring the tax continues to target high-income earners.
• Addressing Business Concerns: Phasing in modest personal income tax rate reductions over time to maintain the region’s competitiveness and address concerns about the Portland area’s affordability.
• Ensuring Long-Term Stability: Extending the SHS program to 2050 to provide long-term stability for those served, and provide the certainty needed for long-term planning.
• Enhancing Transparency and Accountability: Establishing an independent citizen watchdog entity, separate from governance body oversight, to regain and sustain public trust.

These changes balance the need for stability and growth with careful attention to economic conditions and regional equity.

Read the recent news coverage here.

Path to the Ballot

In October, Metro Council took an important first step by passing a resolution endorsing many of these reforms. Now, Metro is continuing the conversations with elected officials, service providers, business representatives, and community stakeholders to finalize a ballot measure proposal.

The Timeline:

• November to December 2024: Key partners convene to refine the measure.
• Early 2025: Metro Council will vote to place the reformed SHS measure before the voters.
• May 2025: Measure will appear on the ballot.

Stay Connected

We need your voice to help ensure this program continues to deliver on its promise. Here’s how to lend your support:

• Sign our coalition letter to show your support for these critical reforms.
• Share this update with your network to help us build momentum.

Together, we can shape a program that ends homelessness, strengthens community trust, and creates a future where everyone has a place to call home.