Put bluntly, there are far too many houseless people in Portland metro. In an area so rich in resources, this is far from acceptable and MUST and CAN be curbed. Particularly in the George Floyd era, and considering Oregon's racial bias in housing displacement, now is the time to take decisive action. This issue cannot be resolved without addressing the lack of oversight and regulations in the private housing market. Oregon already broke ground with the country's first rent control laws so this modest proposal would be far from unattainable: Implementing a 25% per unit tax on vacant apartments in the Portland metropolitan area, and the allocation of said revenue to a fund housing vouchers for vulnerable community members. In a metro area where vacant homes outnumber the houseless nearly two-to-one it's a fair assessment to say intervention is needed. Said tax would provide incentive for property managers to lower the per-unit asking costs. The people of Portland deserve better and this step could get the ball rolling for a more equitable and fair metropolitan area.