A bill that would have prohibited Oregon cities from forcing people experiencing homelessness to stop sitting, sleeping or standing almost anywhere on public property died in committee Tuesday.
House Bill 2367, sponsored by four Democratic freshman lawmakers, had overwhelming support from homeless agencies and advocacy groups across the state including the ACLU of Oregon, the White Bird Clinic in Eugene and the Stop the Sweeps Coalition in Portland. A handful of individuals experiencing homelessness had also signed up to testify in support of the bill.
It would have required government officials to leave alone people on sidewalks, public plazas, parks and elsewhere unless they were blocking pedestrian or vehicle traffic.
However, committee Chair Janelle Bynum, D-Happy Valley, allowed for only three people to speak during a brief public hearing Tuesday before time ran out without a vote being called. That meant the bill died, as Tuesday was the deadline for bills to get voted out of a committee in the House or Senate.
But a similar, less expansive plan to allow people experiencing homelessness to occupy many public spaces remains in play with 2 ½ months left in lawmakers’ session. That bill is backed by House Speaker Tina Kotek, a powerful Portland Democrat, giving it strong odds of passage.
The House Judiciary Committee plans to hold another public hearing on the first-year lawmakers’ bill to finish listening to testimony on the idea. That could help determine if the concept should have another go during a subsequent legislative session.
Sandy Chung, executive director of the ACLU of Oregon, spoke in support of the bill, arguing that sitting, sleeping and eating are basic human needs. She said many of the current anti-camping and anti-sit/lie laws on the books in many Oregon criminalize, harass and discriminate again homeless individuals who are trying to survive.
Chung said the ACLU has interviewed individuals who have reported that they have been awoken in the middle of the night to be asked to move only to be woken up again an hour later after finding a new spot to sleep.
“Oregon cities and counties had at least 224 laws that criminalize activities like this,” Chung said, quoting from a report published by the ACLU of Oregon in 2017.
Berkley Carnine, a crisis counselor at Cahoots, a behavioral health emergency response team in Eugene, said the bill would have addressed many underlying problems faced by people in crisis that they work with each day.
“We often show up with a tent and sleeping bag, but we can’t tell people where they can legally sleep,” Carnine said. “We connect people to waitlists for housing or shelter, but no actual shelter.”
While the bill they favored died in committee, the similar one, House Bill 3115, is still alive. It reaffirms that Oregonians can sit, lie, sleep and keep warm and dry on public property in most circumstances. The Judiciary Committee approved it 6-3, and it is scheduled for a vote the full House as soon as Tuesday evening.
That bill was a direct response to a 2018 homelessness case decided by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals court said governments cannot criminalize conduct that is unavoidable as a result of experiencing homelessness if there isn’t enough safe indoor sleeping spaces for anyone without such accommodations.
While the court ruling could be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the bill Kotek is championing would protect homeless rights by changing state law. The bill would also force Oregon cities to update their sit/lie and camping ordinances.
Both bills drew support from similar advocacy groups. But advocates argued that House Bill 2367 was broader and more accommodating. It would have outlawed harassment directed at individuals experiencing homelessness and allowed people subjected to such conduct to recoup civil fines from their harassers. It also would have protected a broader range of conduct, including praying and eating or sharing food, in public spaces.
Nicole Hayden reports on homelessness for The Oregonian|OregonLive. She can be reached at nhayden@oregonian.com or on Twitter @Nicole_A_Hayden.
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