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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NC House bills will undercut services to homeless vets
People experiencing homelessness in Raleigh pack to leave an encampment off of Highway 70 near Interstate 40. (Photo: Greg Childress) As a U.S. Navy veteran, I am honored to manage a team that serves other veterans who find themselves without a home in North Carolina. In my role as director of outreach for Veterans Services of The Carolinas (VSC), our team collaborates daily with the faith-based community, mental health and substance use providers, LME/MCOs, law enforcement, housing providers, and others across all 100 counties of North Carolina. That experience has provided us with deep insight into what works and what doesn't. Two pending bills in the North Carolina General Assembly will have a direct impact on our communities, service providers, law enforcement, and those we serve. Both are promoted—as they were in other targeted states —by an interest group out of Austin, Texas, called Cicero Action. Joe Lonsdale, its founder, is a venture capitalist with ties to those in private prison contracting, including technology for the newer field of e-carceration. One bill – House Bill 437 – would criminalize nonprofits like ours by threatening felony charges if drug activity occurs within 100 feet of our facilities — an extreme and unworkable standard that punishes service providers for circumstances beyond their control. The other — House Bill 781 — establishes new requirements on cities and counties to set up state-sanctioned homeless encampments for up to a year without additional funding. Going after nonprofits and supporting unfunded mandates is not on-brand for the state of North Carolina, but neither is disrespecting our faith-based and veteran leaders who the Cicero lobbyists characterize as unserious activists. Representatives for four bishops overseeing 1200 North Carolina Episcopal and United Methodist churches joined VSC and other veterans in sharing concerns about these bills and the impacts they will have at multiple House committee podiums. And yet, the bill passed out of the House and now awaits a round of committee hearings in the Senate. Under the guise of a self-described think tank, the Cicero Institute—in the absence of data—blames the Housing First model for the increase of homelessness. From Texas, it declares there is no lack of affordable housing in North Carolina and glosses over how two out of three of its residents experiencing homelessness in recent years are experiencing it for the first time. Prioritizing housing with wrap-around services—the housing first model—has been the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs approach since 2012. More than 133,000 veterans were housed and provided with supportive services to help them retain housing over the last three years. The practice was first introduced by the George W. Bush Administration and has enjoyed subsequent bipartisan support because of data showing its effectiveness. The average number of returns to homelessness across the state utilizing Housing First is less than 13%. The City of Raleigh estimates it costs $96,000 a year in emergency services, law enforcement and health care for a homeless person living outside. As Raleigh's News & Observer reported recently, putting someone in a home and making services available costs $20,000 — saving taxpayers' $76,000 per person. In contrast, another local government projected the cost of installing just one Greenflow unit to provide the bill's requirement of running water and restrooms at up to $200,000 alone. Will local governments have to add this cost and others in their capital improvement or their regular budgets to meet the state's approval? Will property tax increases be required to move the state-sanctioned encampments around each year? Additionally, legal counsels from local governments have raised concerns about increased liability and incarceration along with decreased local control–as reported by their colleagues in states where the Cicero bills have passed into law. Cicero offers no data to indicate its proposal will do anything to end homelessness—just make it less visible. A month after the Florida encampment law went into effect last year, the first lawsuit was filed, resulting in a hasty sweep of an encampment without a plan for where people would go. Ongoing treatment for substance use and medications for mental illness are interrupted or lost when caseworkers and peer support specialists cannot find those they serve. State-sanctioned, compulsive homeless encampments will drive unsheltered veterans further from the resources needed and further away from sustainable recovery, while putting the onus on our local law enforcement. Especially in the context of yesterday's annual observance of Memorial Day, it makes no sense for our leaders to pass laws that criminalize those who have given up so much for the freedoms we enjoy. Our General Assembly members would serve their communities more effectively by investing in solutions that have been proven to work and are cost effective.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NC House bills will undercut services to homeless vets
People experiencing homelessness in Raleigh pack to leave an encampment off of Highway 70 near Interstate 40. (Photo: Greg Childress) As a U.S. Navy veteran, I am honored to manage a team that serves other veterans who find themselves without a home in North Carolina. In my role as director of outreach for Veterans Services of The Carolinas (VSC), our team collaborates daily with the faith-based community, mental health and substance use providers, LME/MCOs, law enforcement, housing providers, and others across all 100 counties of North Carolina. That experience has provided us with deep insight into what works and what doesn't. Two pending bills in the North Carolina General Assembly will have a direct impact on our communities, service providers, law enforcement, and those we serve. Both are promoted—as they were in other targeted states —by an interest group out of Austin, Texas, called Cicero Action. Joe Lonsdale, its founder, is a venture capitalist with ties to those in private prison contracting, including technology for the newer field of e-carceration. One bill – House Bill 437 – would criminalize nonprofits like ours by threatening felony charges if drug activity occurs within 100 feet of our facilities — an extreme and unworkable standard that punishes service providers for circumstances beyond their control. The other — House Bill 781 — establishes new requirements on cities and counties to set up state-sanctioned homeless encampments for up to a year without additional funding. Going after nonprofits and supporting unfunded mandates is not on-brand for the state of North Carolina, but neither is disrespecting our faith-based and veteran leaders who the Cicero lobbyists characterize as unserious activists. Representatives for four bishops overseeing 1200 North Carolina Episcopal and United Methodist churches joined VSC and other veterans in sharing concerns about these bills and the impacts they will have at multiple House committee podiums. And yet, the bill passed out of the House and now awaits a round of committee hearings in the Senate. Under the guise of a self-described think tank, the Cicero Institute—in the absence of data—blames the Housing First model for the increase of homelessness. From Texas, it declares there is no lack of affordable housing in North Carolina and glosses over how two out of three of its residents experiencing homelessness in recent years are experiencing it for the first time. Prioritizing housing with wrap-around services—the housing first model—has been the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs approach since 2012. More than 133,000 veterans were housed and provided with supportive services to help them retain housing over the last three years. The practice was first introduced by the George W. Bush Administration and has enjoyed subsequent bipartisan support because of data showing its effectiveness. The average number of returns to homelessness across the state utilizing Housing First is less than 13%. The City of Raleigh estimates it costs $96,000 a year in emergency services, law enforcement and health care for a homeless person living outside. As Raleigh's News & Observer reported recently, putting someone in a home and making services available costs $20,000 — saving taxpayers' $76,000 per person. In contrast, another local government projected the cost of installing just one Greenflow unit to provide the bill's requirement of running water and restrooms at up to $200,000 alone. Will local governments have to add this cost and others in their capital improvement or their regular budgets to meet the state's approval? Will property tax increases be required to move the state-sanctioned encampments around each year? Additionally, legal counsels from local governments have raised concerns about increased liability and incarceration along with decreased local control–as reported by their colleagues in states where the Cicero bills have passed into law. Cicero offers no data to indicate its proposal will do anything to end homelessness—just make it less visible. A month after the Florida encampment law went into effect last year, the first lawsuit was filed, resulting in a hasty sweep of an encampment without a plan for where people would go. Ongoing treatment for substance use and medications for mental illness are interrupted or lost when caseworkers and peer support specialists cannot find those they serve. State-sanctioned, compulsive homeless encampments will drive unsheltered veterans further from the resources needed and further away from sustainable recovery, while putting the onus on our local law enforcement. Especially in the context of yesterday's annual observance of Memorial Day, it makes no sense for our leaders to pass laws that criminalize those who have given up so much for the freedoms we enjoy. Our General Assembly members would serve their communities more effectively by investing in solutions that have been proven to work and are cost effective.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Conference attendees decry bill banning unauthorized camping, sleeping on public land
Graphic: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. As many as 170 communities have enacted ordinances banning unauthorized camping and sleeping since last June when the U.S. Supreme Court okayed them, Donald Whitehead, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, told attendees of the 'Bringing it Home 2025' conference in Raleigh on Thursday. Fining, jailing or ticketing someone experiencing homelessness for unauthorized camping or sleeping outside will not solve the homelessness problem, said Whitehead, the event's keynote speaker. He urged conference participants to fight against proposed legislation in North Carolina that would make unauthorized camping and sleeping illegal. 'I'm asking you today, before you leave this conference, call your representative in Washington, in the state House, make sure that North Carolina doesn't become included in those communities that are criminalizing homelessness,' Whitehead said. Whitehead was referring to House Bill 781, which is winding its way through the General Assembly. The bill would ban unauthorized camping and sleeping on public property and allow local governments by 'majority vote' to designate local government-owned property to be used for a 'continuous period of up to one year for public camping or sleeping purposes.' Local governments can renew the one-year period. Whitehead shared that a 2014 study in Osceola, Florida found that 37 chronically homeless people were arrested approximately 1,250 times at a cost of more than $6 million to the community. 'We know, if you jail, fine or arrest somebody, it does not solve homelessness,' Whitehead said. 'Criminalization is not the solution, but those are local decisions, and the only way we can have an impact on those local solutions, those local issues, is that we have to be advocates in our community beyond the service.' Rep. Brian Biggs (R-Randolph), a cosponsor of HB 781 has pushed back against claims the bill criminalizes homelessness. 'This bill does not criminalize homelessness,' Biggs insisted. 'It addresses unauthorized public property camping and sleeping without prohibiting homelessness itself.' Biggs has said HB 781 grew out of conversations with municipal leaders who asked for guidance around handling the state's growing homeless crisis. He said the state can no longer wait to address the problem. Speaking just ahead of Whitehead on Thursday, Gov. Josh Stein also took aim at HB 781, contrasting it with bills introduced this session that are designed to increase affordable housing stock. Stein said lawmakers have put forward 'many creative solutions' to address the state's housing shortage, such as a proposal to allow developers to build new housing in any area zoned for commercial, retail or office use without having to rezone the property. 'They're [lawmakers] thinking boldly about how we can increase housing supply, and this is certainly an issue where there is a possibility for bipartisan solutions,' Stein said. 'On the other hand, we are seeing efforts at the General Assembly to make sleeping in a park a crime. No one should have to sleep outside. It's a real problem, but we need to find real solutions by connecting people with supportive services and putting more roofs over more heads.' Bans on authorized camping and sleeping are coming as the rate of homelessness is rising, Whitehead said. 'Last year, we had the highest number of people experiencing homelessness in the history of our country, at least since it's been measured by Congress, which goes back to the early 2000s, over 770,000 people (an 18% increase over the previous year),' Whitehead said. HUD's 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) found that the number of people experiencing homelessness increased in every category — except for veterans — measured during the department's annual Point-in-Time (PIT) Count. The count is a snapshot of the number of individuals in shelters, temporary housing and unsheltered on a single night. The Founding Fathers in the Preamble to the Constitution promised U.S. citizens life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, Whitehead said. 'You can't pursue happiness sleeping under a bridge,' Whitehead said. 'There is no liberty when you are fined, jailed or ticketed because you can't afford a place to live. You cannot pursue happiness if you lay your head in the back of an automobile.' State advocates for people experiencing homelessness contend HB 781 will diminishes local autonomy while making cities and counties both fiscally responsible and legally liable for the implementing state-sanctioned encampment policies. The NC Coalition to End Homelessness (NCCEH) has also expressed concern that the proposal is being pushed by the Cicero Institute, a conservative think tank, that has led efforts to pass similar legislation in Arizona, Missouri, Tennessee, Iowa, Georgia, Florida, Wisconsin and Kentucky. The institute was founded by tech-industry capitalist Joe Lonsdale, who is critical of the 'housing first' approach to ending homelessness. That model prioritizes providing individuals and families with permanent, affordable housing as the first step in ending their plight. 'While Cicero describes itself as a think tank, its policies promote industries that potentially profit from criminalizing poverty,' said Dr. Latonya Agard, executive director of NCCEH. Agard said Cicero's policies promote industries that will potentially profit from criminalizing poverty. 'States that adopted Cicero laws find they are funneling more public money into incarceration, so while these bills could lead to the financial enrichment of out-of-state investors of privatized jails and prisons and monitoring technologies, they will worsen conditions for North Carolinians without housing,' Agard said. Both Stein and Whitehead expressed concerns about proposed federal budget cuts to eliminate Section 8 housing. 'More than 25,000 people in North Carolina depend on Section 8 to have a home they can't afford to have that support taken away from them, and we cannot afford it either,' Stein said. 'Let's work to expand access to housing, not take it away.' Stein said he's also concerned about proposed cuts to Medicaid and the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.) The SNAP program, once referred to as Food Stamps, provides low-income families with food for an adequate diet. 'These cuts pose a serious threat to the wallets and wellbeing of so many hard-working families here in North Carolina,' Stein said. 'Cuts to essential needs like health care and food make it that much harder for people to afford housing, and they'll make it even harder for our state to afford to support our people.' Whitehead said the proposed cuts to the nation's social safety net programs would push more people into homelessness and cause harm to those who are already unsheltered. 'If that budget goes through, it would be a devastating impact on people experiencing homelessness,' he said. 'I don't know who you voted for, but I don't think you voted for an 80% reduction in HUD [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] staff or $1 trillion worth of cuts between Medicaid and the SNAP program — I don't think that's what you voted for — and all of that in order to be able to enact a $45 trillion tax cut, which benefits people at the top of the economic ladder.' Devdutta Sangvai, the N.C. Secretary of Health and Human Services, said that in the coming days the proposed Medicaid and SNAP cuts will be widely discussed. Sangvai reminded conferences attendees that both are connected to housing. 'Behavioral Health is connected to housing. Housing is connected to child care. Child Care is connected to the economy,' Sangvai said. 'We do not have to artificially connect the dots to make a point. It is proven. There are data out there to support that. And so we really need to understand that if we don't address the homelessness issue in the housing crisis, it poses a direct threat to the stability and economic well being of North Carolina.' Bring It Home 2025 is sponsored by the N.C. Housing Coalition, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and the N.C. Coalition to End Homelessness. The conference concludes Friday.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Conference attendees decry bill banning unauthorized camping, sleeping on public land
Graphic: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. As many as 170 communities have enacted ordinances banning unauthorized camping and sleeping since last June when the U.S. Supreme Court okayed them, Donald Whitehead, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, told attendees of the 'Bringing it Home 2025' conference in Raleigh on Thursday. Fining, jailing or ticketing someone experiencing homelessness for unauthorized camping or sleeping outside will not solve the homelessness problem, said Whitehead, the event's keynote speaker. He urged conference participants to fight against proposed legislation in North Carolina that would make unauthorized camping and sleeping illegal. 'I'm asking you today, before you leave this conference, call your representative in Washington, in the state House, make sure that North Carolina doesn't become included in those communities that are criminalizing homelessness,' Whitehead said. Whitehead was referring to House Bill 781, which is winding its way through the General Assembly. The bill would ban unauthorized camping and sleeping on public property and allow local governments by 'majority vote' to designate local government-owned property to be used for a 'continuous period of up to one year for public camping or sleeping purposes.' Local governments can renew the one-year period. Whitehead shared that a 2014 study in Osceola, Florida found that 37 chronically homeless people were arrested approximately 1,250 times at a cost of more than $6 million to the community. 'We know, if you jail, fine or arrest somebody, it does not solve homelessness,' Whitehead said. 'Criminalization is not the solution, but those are local decisions, and the only way we can have an impact on those local solutions, those local issues, is that we have to be advocates in our community beyond the service.' Rep. Brian Biggs (R-Randolph), a cosponsor of HB 781 has pushed back against claims the bill criminalizes homelessness. 'This bill does not criminalize homelessness,' Biggs insisted. 'It addresses unauthorized public property camping and sleeping without prohibiting homelessness itself.' Biggs has said HB 781 grew out of conversations with municipal leaders who asked for guidance around handling the state's growing homeless crisis. He said the state can no longer wait to address the problem. Speaking just ahead of Whitehead on Thursday, Gov. Josh Stein also took aim at HB 781, contrasting it with bills introduced this session that are designed to increase affordable housing stock. Stein said lawmakers have put forward 'many creative solutions' to address the state's housing shortage, such as a proposal to allow developers to build new housing in any area zoned for commercial, retail or office use without having to rezone the property. 'They're [lawmakers] thinking boldly about how we can increase housing supply, and this is certainly an issue where there is a possibility for bipartisan solutions,' Stein said. 'On the other hand, we are seeing efforts at the General Assembly to make sleeping in a park a crime. No one should have to sleep outside. It's a real problem, but we need to find real solutions by connecting people with supportive services and putting more roofs over more heads.' Bans on authorized camping and sleeping are coming as the rate of homelessness is rising, Whitehead said. 'Last year, we had the highest number of people experiencing homelessness in the history of our country, at least since it's been measured by Congress, which goes back to the early 2000s, over 770,000 people (an 18% increase over the previous year),' Whitehead said. HUD's 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) found that the number of people experiencing homelessness increased in every category — except for veterans — measured during the department's annual Point-in-Time (PIT) Count. The count is a snapshot of the number of individuals in shelters, temporary housing and unsheltered on a single night. The Founding Fathers in the Preamble to the Constitution promised U.S. citizens life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, Whitehead said. 'You can't pursue happiness sleeping under a bridge,' Whitehead said. 'There is no liberty when you are fined, jailed or ticketed because you can't afford a place to live. You cannot pursue happiness if you lay your head in the back of an automobile.' State advocates for people experiencing homelessness contend HB 781 will diminishes local autonomy while making cities and counties both fiscally responsible and legally liable for the implementing state-sanctioned encampment policies. The NC Coalition to End Homelessness (NCCEH) has also expressed concern that the proposal is being pushed by the Cicero Institute, a conservative think tank, that has led efforts to pass similar legislation in Arizona, Missouri, Tennessee, Iowa, Georgia, Florida, Wisconsin and Kentucky. The institute was founded by tech-industry capitalist Joe Lonsdale, who is critical of the 'housing first' approach to ending homelessness. That model prioritizes providing individuals and families with permanent, affordable housing as the first step in ending their plight. 'While Cicero describes itself as a think tank, its policies promote industries that potentially profit from criminalizing poverty,' said Dr. Latonya Agard, executive director of NCCEH. Agard said Cicero's policies promote industries that will potentially profit from criminalizing poverty. 'States that adopted Cicero laws find they are funneling more public money into incarceration, so while these bills could lead to the financial enrichment of out-of-state investors of privatized jails and prisons and monitoring technologies, they will worsen conditions for North Carolinians without housing,' Agard said. Both Stein and Whitehead expressed concerns about proposed federal budget cuts to eliminate Section 8 housing. 'More than 25,000 people in North Carolina depend on Section 8 to have a home they can't afford to have that support taken away from them, and we cannot afford it either,' Stein said. 'Let's work to expand access to housing, not take it away.' Stein said he's also concerned about proposed cuts to Medicaid and the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.) The SNAP program, once referred to as Food Stamps, provides low-income families with food for an adequate diet. 'These cuts pose a serious threat to the wallets and wellbeing of so many hard-working families here in North Carolina,' Stein said. 'Cuts to essential needs like health care and food make it that much harder for people to afford housing, and they'll make it even harder for our state to afford to support our people.' Whitehead said the proposed cuts to the nation's social safety net programs would push more people into homelessness and cause harm to those who are already unsheltered. 'If that budget goes through, it would be a devastating impact on people experiencing homelessness,' he said. 'I don't know who you voted for, but I don't think you voted for an 80% reduction in HUD [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] staff or $1 trillion worth of cuts between Medicaid and the SNAP program — I don't think that's what you voted for — and all of that in order to be able to enact a $45 trillion tax cut, which benefits people at the top of the economic ladder.' Devdutta Sangvai, the N.C. Secretary of Health and Human Services, said that in the coming days the proposed Medicaid and SNAP cuts will be widely discussed. Sangvai reminded conferences attendees that both are connected to housing. 'Behavioral Health is connected to housing. Housing is connected to child care. Child Care is connected to the economy,' Sangvai said. 'We do not have to artificially connect the dots to make a point. It is proven. There are data out there to support that. And so we really need to understand that if we don't address the homelessness issue in the housing crisis, it poses a direct threat to the stability and economic well being of North Carolina.' Bring It Home 2025 is sponsored by the N.C. Housing Coalition, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and the N.C. Coalition to End Homelessness. The conference concludes Friday.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NC House approves camping ban bill despite concerns about costs, criminalizing homelessness
People experiencing homelessness were forced to move from an encampment off of U.S. 70 near Garner. (Photo: Greg Childress) Opponents of a bill that would ban unauthorized camping and sleeping on public property took one last, unsuccessful swing Wednesday to prevent House approval of legislation critics contend will criminalize homelessness. In the end, the House voted 69-42, largely along partisan lines with Republicans voting in favor of sending House Bill 781 to the Senate just ahead of Thursday's crossover deadline, after which only bills that have passed at least one chamber can be considered. HB 781 would allow local governments by 'majority vote' to designate local government-owned property located within its jurisdiction to be used for a 'continuous period of up to one year for public camping or sleeping purposes.' Local governments can renew the one-year period. Rep. Brian Biggs (R-Randolph) pushed back against claims that HB 781 criminalizes homelessness while introducing the bill. 'This bill does not criminalize homelessness,' Biggs insisted. 'It addresses unauthorized public property camping and sleeping without prohibiting homelessness itself.' Biggs has said the HB 781 grew out of conversations with municipal leaders who asked for guidance around handling the state's growing homeless crisis. He said the state can no longer wait to address the problem. Total homelessness across the state jumped 19% to 11,626 in 2024, according to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development report documenting homelessness in America. That was 1,872 more homeless people than the 9,754 counted in 2023. 'Some people want to kick it down the road two years, five years, but how long are we going to wait until we deal with our homeless population in our own house,' Biggs said. 'We need to deal with it now. We need to give guidance.' Under HB 781, local governments would also be responsible for ensuring safety, maintaining sanitation, policing illegal substance use and alcohol use and coordinating with health departments to provide behavioral health services at designated sites. The HB 781 debate was collegial. Some bill opponents thanked Biggs for taking on a difficult issue that has vexed cities and towns. 'It [HB 781] falls short in a lot of ways, but it took an act of courage to actually put it out there,' said Rep. Laura Budd (D-Mecklenburg). 'Maybe this is a solution we should consider because doing nothing is not an option. The solutions we're currently trying to employ in our communities across the state are either ineffectual or not meeting the needs of those they are seeking to house.' Budd, however, said she could not vote for the bill because it's tantamount to an unfunded mandate that would create financial and strategic hardships for local governments. 'We cannot ask our local governments to foot this bill because when we do that, you know where they get the money, they get it out of the pockets of taxpayers living in their communities and most of those citizens can't afford that either,' Budd said. Rep. Abe Jones (D-Wake) agreed the state should provide local governments with financial assistance if HB 781 is approved. 'I think we're going to have to put our money where our mouths are, otherwise, we would be just as guilty as the feds who do this all time; shove it down the line, beat their chest, act as though they did something and they're sending us no money,' Jones said. Rep. Jordan Lopez (D-Mecklenburg) spoke forcibly against the bill, contending it would criminalize homelessness. 'It's not a misconception that House Bill 781 will require local governments to not only punish those that are unhoused, but in a state where affordable housing remains increasingly harder to find, it's contributing to a rising homeless rate, basically requires local governments to push away or outright hide unhoused people as well,' Lopez said. Rep. Sarah Stevens (R-Surry) reminded colleagues of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 ruling in the case of Grants Pass v. Johnson that there is 'no specific right to housing on public property.' The Court ruled that cities can punish unhoused individuals for sleeping outside in public even if they have nowhere else to go. 'It [the Court decision] said there's no constitutional right to living on a public park, a public property, so this does encompasses that and said you don't have the right to live on public property but if a city or county wishes to establish a place for people to live, they need to at least provide sanitation, they need to provide a space and give them some guidelines,' Stevens said. After the Court ruling, Grants Pass designated camps for people experiencing homelessness. City policy restricts camping to specific locations. Stevens argued that HB 781 is not an unfunded mandate because the problem of homelessness already exists. 'This is an attempt to start moving forward and getting the cities and counties to say, 'Yes, this is an issue and we're going to deal with it,'' Stevens said. 'We didn't create the problem on the state level, so it's not up to us to fix it. Each of the cities and counties are going to have to do their own thing.' Rep. Deb Butler (D-New Hanover) questioned a provision in the bill that prohibits selected sites from negatively affecting property values of neighboring properties. 'Well, who's going to determine that?' Butler asked. 'Who's going to do the valuations?' Like other bill opponents, Butler thanked Biggs for taking on a challenging subject but said HB 781 leaves her with more questions than answers. 'You [Biggs] are well intentioned with this bill, but I think homelessness, being unhoused, is a very tough issue and people in that advocacy space have been trying to figure it out,' Butler said. 'Until we can figure it out, and until we commit the dollars and resources to solve some of the underlying challenges, I don't think we're going to get there, and I think this bill is going to impede our progress on tackling homelessness.' Lawmakers' concerns about HB 781 largely mirrored those that have been expressed by advocates for people experiencing homelessness. 'Absent state fiscal support, the NC bill diminishes local autonomy while making cities and counties both fiscally responsible and legally liable for the implementation of state-sanctioned encampment policies,' the NC Coalition to End Homelessness [NCCEH] said in a statement earlier this week. The NCCEH also expressed concern that the bill is being pushed by the Cicero Institute, a conservative think tank, that has led efforts to pass similar legislation in Arizona, Missouri, Tennessee, Iowa, Georgia, Florida, Wisconsin and Kentucky. The institute was founded by tech-industry capitalist Joe Lonsdale, who is critical of the 'housing first' approach to ending homelessness. That model prioritizes providing individuals and families with permanent, affordable housing as the first step in ending their plight. 'While Cicero describes itself as a think tank, its policies promote industries that potentially profit from criminalizing poverty,' said Dr. Latonya Agard, executive director of NCCEH. 'States that adopted Cicero laws find they are funneling more public money into incarceration, so while these bills could lead to the financial enrichment of out-of-state investors of privatized jails and prisons and monitoring technologies, they will worsen conditions for North Carolinians without housing.'
