The Right to Rest Act was also introduced in 2021 but didn’t make it out of the judiciary committee.Ĭourts have ruled that municipalities violate the Eighth Amendment when they criminally prosecute people who have no other choice but to sleep outside in public. The bill is with the House Committee on Housing and Homelessness, with a public hearing scheduled for May 4. “While this bill is no public housing guarantee or major zoning reform, it does seem like it will ensure certain rights of homeless individuals and as such represents an important step in the right direction.” “For too long law enforcement has acted to effectively enclose public land from common use, especially use by down-on-their luck Oregonians,” said Jackson Miller, a Portland resident. Others who support the bill say they believe unhoused people are deserving of help just as anyone else is. “Moving people around just chases the issue from one place to another.” Jones says people are losing patience, but there is nowhere to go. The US Census Bureau estimates about 641,000 people live in Portland as of last July. And the number of people who were unsheltered grew by 50% from 2019 to 2022. Karen Bass vows to 'solve homelessness' and to be an agent of change as first female mayor of Los AngelesĪccording to the 2022 point-in-time count of homeless people conducted by Multnomah County, which includes Portland, people counted as homeless as defined by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development increased 30.2% during the pandemic. Bass defeated developer Rick Caruso to become the next mayor of Los Angeles on Wednesday, making her the first Black woman to hold the post as City Hall contends with an out-of-control homeless crisis, rising crime rates and multiple scandals that have shaken trust in government. Los Angeles Mayor-elect Karen Bass speaks at a news conference in Los Angeles, Thursday, Nov. “Portland is struggling right now to retain residents, and the increasing encroachment of homeless camps on our public lands is a big reason why we’re losing residents.” “We cannot give these people legal protection to do as they please in our public spaces, and strip our citizens of their own rights to use these same spaces,” wrote Portland resident Carlin Scott. Public opposition to the measure has been sizable, according to a list of submitted testimonies.
“We certainly don’t want to see people harassed simply because they don’t know where to go.” “It expresses a sentiment that we are all here to protect the dignity, the welfare, the legal right of this community,” Jimmy Jones, executive director of the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency, told CNN. “Decriminalization of rest allows local governments to redirect resources from local law enforcement activities to activities that address the root causes of homelessness and poverty.”ĬNN has reached out to Chaichi, the chief sponsor, but has not heard back. Farrah Chaichi, a Democrat whose district includes Beaverton, and Rep.
“Many persons in Oregon have experienced homelessness as a result of economic hardship, a shortage of safe and affordable housing, the inability to obtain gainful employment and a disintegrating social safety net system,” says the bill, sponsored by Rep.
The bill, HB 3501, would allow unhoused people to use public spaces “without discrimination and time limitations” regarding their housing status, the text reads. Democrats in the Oregon House of Representatives have introduced a bill that would decriminalize homeless encampments in public places and allow homeless people to sue for $1,000 if harassed or told to leave.
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