Two Pennsylvania state lawmakers are leading an effort to decriminalize homelessness in the state, with Lancaster County Rep. Izzy Smith-Wade-El and Philadelphia Sen. Nikil Saval collaborating on legislation for each chamber.In a statement, Smith-Wade-El said, “Criminalizing individuals or families for being homeless condemns the unhoused to an unending cycle of heavy fines, arrests and incarceration, perpetuating their poverty and exacerbating the larger social crisis.”If passed, the bill would allow unhoused people to conduct life-sustaining activities in public when there are no reasonable alternative options for housing available.It would also require municipalities to provide adequate indoor housing spaces before enforcing any ordinance that criminalizes living outside.Smith-Wade-El said, “We feel like the work that we’re doing is long overdue. There’s too many people in shelters, too many people on the streets with numbers that are only growing, for us to use incarceration as our only tool.”The goal is to present the proposal to lawmakers at the end of this month or early next month.This bill follows the controversy over Harrisburg’s “Tent City” encampment, where residents were forced to move due to a PennDOT project.
Two Pennsylvania state lawmakers are leading an effort to decriminalize homelessness in the state, with Lancaster County Rep. Izzy Smith-Wade-El and Philadelphia Sen. Nikil Saval collaborating on legislation for each chamber.
In a statement, Smith-Wade-El said, “Criminalizing individuals or families for being homeless condemns the unhoused to an unending cycle of heavy fines, arrests and incarceration, perpetuating their poverty and exacerbating the larger social crisis.”
If passed, the bill would allow unhoused people to conduct life-sustaining activities in public when there are no reasonable alternative options for housing available.
It would also require municipalities to provide adequate indoor housing spaces before enforcing any ordinance that criminalizes living outside.
Smith-Wade-El said, “We feel like the work that we’re doing is long overdue. There’s too many people in shelters, too many people on the streets with numbers that are only growing, for us to use incarceration as our only tool.”
The goal is to present the proposal to lawmakers at the end of this month or early next month.
This bill follows the controversy over Harrisburg’s “Tent City” encampment, where residents were forced to move due to a PennDOT project.