Latest news with #HB2382
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
WV House judiciary approves camping ban bill; legislation next goes to House floor for vote
A sign in Wheeling, one legal camping area outlines rules and the boundary for the site. (Daniel Finsley | Finsley Creative for West Virginia Watch) A bill that would prohibit homeless people from camping on public property throughout West Virginia is headed to the floor of the House of Delegates for a vote. The House Judiciary Committee signed off on House Bill 2382 Wednesday morning. The bill would impose fines of up to $500 and up to 30 days in jail for homeless people who use camping paraphernalia, including tarps, cots, beds, sleeping bags, blankets, mattresses, hammocks or portable cooking facilities and similar equipment, on governmental or public property, grounds or lawns. A committee substitute for the bill approved Wednesday added backpacks, bags and rucksacks to the definition of camping paraphernalia. It also rewrote a section to require that those enforcing the law make the person violating the law aware of any alternative shelter, if available, but does not prevent enforcement of the law if there's no shelter available. Dozens of governments, including at least four West Virginia cities, have passed camping bans after a Supreme Court decision last year upholding a similar ban in Grants Pass, Oregon. Opponents say the laws make homelessness worse by imposing fines and criminal penalties on people that make it more difficult for them to find housing. Del. Geno Chiarelli, R-Monongalia, lead sponsor of HB 2382, told West Virginia Watch Tuesday the legislation is in response to Morgantown's ban being challenged and possibly overturned. Chiarelli said he thought the ordinance would have been a positive step for the city. Morgantown voters will decide during the city's April election whether that city's ban will go into effect. During the meeting Wednesday, lawmakers who opposed the ban raised concerns about shelter availability and jail costs, among other things. 'Homelessness is a really complex issue, and I appreciate that the Legislature is trying to address it. I'm just not convinced this is the right approach,' said Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia. 'As I think everybody here knows this, this issue has to do with affordable housing, has to do with substance use disorder, has to do with mental health. There are a lot of different issues that play into the homelessness issue.' Hansen said he'd gotten more emails from constituents about this bill than any other this session so far. Most of them were from people in Morgantown, he said. Hansen said the bill has flaws. 'What happens if there's no shelter in the community, [when] there's no option to refer people to? What happens then? This bill doesn't address that,' Hansen said. 'What happens in a community like Morgantown, where the shelter is routinely full. This bill doesn't address that.' An earlier version of the bill said that no criminal penalties would be imposed on people unless they're offered shelter and refused. The section was not in the approved committee substitute for the bill. 'This bill would criminalize homelessness, would impose fines on people who probably don't have any money, and jail terms on people who are just trying to get by,' Hansen said. Del. Bill Flanagan, R-Ohio, said the bill could mean that lots of money is spent jailing people instead of helping them. 'How can we not find a better purpose for that money to assist these people that are suffering homelessness? And I say this in all honesty, in West Virginia, we see a lot more of it than any of us realize,' Flanagan said. 'We're blessed to have families that take people in that don't have homes. Our homelessness level is far, far higher than what we understand, than what we see. He added that he understands that there are safety issues with encampments. He's had experiences walking down streets feeling unsafe, he said. 'This one, I don't know if this is going to be a good set for us,' he said. 'I just feel like we're going to end up costing our counties and our cities a lot of money.' Speaking in favor of the bill, Del. Rick Hillenbrand, R-Hamsphire, said that homeless encampments dissuade people from using public parks and other areas. 'Without this law, communities that are not incorporated, don't have the ability to put in ordinances, are basically left without recourse,' he said. 'I urge passage of the bill as amended.' The bill will next go to the full House of Delegates for a vote. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
WV House Judiciary considers statewide camping ban aimed at homeless people
Del. Geno Chiarelli, R-Monongalia, lead sponsor of House Bill 2382, addresses the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday, March 4, 2025 in Charleston, (Lori Kersey | West Virginia Watch) Camping and storing personal belongings on public property would be prohibited statewide under a bill the West Virginia House of Delegates is considering. House Bill 2382 would impose fines of up to $500 and up to 30 days in jail for homeless people who use camping paraphernalia, including sleeping bags and blankets, on governmental or public property, grounds or lawns. The bill has carve outs for lawfully camping in campgrounds or trailer parks approved for that use. The legislation was before the House Judiciary Committee for a hearing Tuesday morning. Following a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year upholding a camping ban in Grants Pass, Oregon, dozens of local governments around the country have passed similar laws as they grapple with record levels of homelessness amid a shortage of affordable housing. Opponents of the laws say camping bans do nothing to address homelessness and even make the problem worse by imposing fines and criminal records on people who have nowhere else to go. In West Virginia, Morgantown, Clarksburg, Bluefield and Princeton passed camping bans last year after the Grants Pass decision. Morgantown's camping ban is on the ballot for the city's April election after a coalition successfully petitioned the city council to reconsider the law. Del. Geno Chiarelli, R-Monongalia, lead sponsor of HB 2382, said the legislation is in response to Morgantown's ban being challenged and possibly overturned. Chiarelli said he thought the ordinance would have been a positive step for the city. 'I think that the quality of life in Morgantown is not the same as it was 10 years ago, and I thought this was something that we could do to try and get us back on track,' Chiarelli told a reporter after the meeting. 'It is no silver bullet piece of ordinance, legislation. We know those things don't exist, but I liked where things were going. 'And then I found out that it was, it was going to be overturned via the petition and everything, and I didn't think that that was the right decision,' he said. During the judiciary meeting Tuesday, the bill drew questions from Democrat lawmakers about what the bill would mean when there's no shelter space available to people. According to the bill, no criminal penalty will be imposed on a person unless they've been offered an alternative place to sleep and declined. But Chiarelli said the bill requires only that people be notified of any alternative shelter and does not contemplate what would happen if no space is available. Many West Virginia counties, particularly rural areas, do not have emergency homeless shelters. In cities like Charleston, Wheeling and Morgantown that do have services, those shelters are regularly full. Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, said one of the bill's unintended side effects could be that more homeless people may come to places like Morgantown where more services are available to them. Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, argued that, because the bill outlaws camping as defined by using sleeping bags, blankets, tarps and other 'camping paraphernalia' it would require homeless people to give up protection from the cold or risk breaking the law. That could violate the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, he said. 'My question now is, if the state is now saying that you have to give up protections, which are biologically required because you need to sleep, are we not then becoming violative of the Eighth Amendment in creating a situation where it's cruel and unusual by telling people they have to give up their belongings, their protections, because that is now camping and violative of the law?' Fluharty said. After the meeting, Chiarelli said shelter beds are something that would have to be figured out moving forward. He pointed to a 'number of pieces of legislation' that address affordable housing and making life better for homeless people, including House Bill 2935, entitled 'a comprehensive approach to homelessness,' which is pending in the Judiciary committee. 'Of course, those kinds of things take money, and I'm never opposed to spending money to make life better for people, but it has to be done in a fiscally responsible way,' he said. The bill may next come back before the Judiciary Committee for amendments and passage before going to the full House of Delegates for a vote. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
