A Multnomah County circuit court judge on Monday largely agreed with Metro that a proposed initiative petition related to providing emergency shelters for homeless people could not appear on the ballot in November.

Judge Stephen Bushong said the proposed ballot measure went beyond Metro’s “home rule” authority and that it did not comply with the “full text requirement” of the Oregon Constitution.

Metro had also argued the petition proposed administrative, not legislative changes to Metro’s code. Bushong, however, disagreed with that assertion; however, he still ruled in favor of Metro.

In May 2020, Metro voters approved a ballot measure referred to them by the Metro Council called Supporting Housing Services. The measure taxes wealthy people and big businesses to help fund programs to help homeless people get into permanent housing.

In April of this year, petitioners with a group known as People for Portland filed a petition that would, among other things, require 75% of that tax money go toward constructing and running emergency homeless shelters and would require cities to enforce anti-camping ordinances before they could tap into the funds.

Two days after the petitioners filed their proposed petition, Metro notified the Multnomah County Elections Division that it believed the petition was unconstitutional.

The petitioners then asked a judge to review the case.

In a statement, People for Portland said it was disappointed in the judge’s ruling.

“[The ruling] represents a dramatic change in Oregon’s initiative system that will limit the ability of the people to have a say in their government,” it said. “This is not a victory for Metro -- they have only succeeded in silencing voters and defending a homeless crisis status quo that is failing everyone.”

It said it is evaluating legal options.

HereTogether and Coalition of Communities of Color released a joint statement praising the ruling.

"[People For Portland's] unconstitutional ballot measure was not only riddled with major legal flaws, but hinged on the false promise of a ‘quick fix’ for our homeless crisis. The ‘shelters only’ approach to homelessness has proven to fail in city after city for decades," they wrote. “Voters got it right when they overwhelmingly approved funding for comprehensive solutions that address homelessness on all fronts, including shelters, mental health and addiction treatment, affordable housing, job training and more.”