BEND, OR -- Deschutes County Commissioners appear supportive of a homelessness response bill currently in a legislative subcommittee. The bipartisan plan increased the Governor’s package from $130-million to $155-million.

County Houseless Strategies and Solutions Director Cheyenne Purrington told Commissioners Friday the bill could accelerate housing production. “It emphasizes modular building which helps to overcome the very long timelines. Typically, it takes about 18 months to produce a housing unit and modular can take that down to about 12 months.”

Purrington says the package covers a lot of important housing policies in one large bill, “So it’s another tool in the toolkit for counties, cities, and local communities to invest in housing production which we sorely need at every level here in Central Oregon. The emphasis has been on the funding, but there are a handful of other policy tools and protections that I think are valuable to the residents of Central Oregon and Deschutes County.”

Purrington is scheduled to testify Tuesday before a subcommittee, on behalf of the county.