27-02-2025
Bill requiring homeless shelters be 3,000 ft. from schools, originally banning them, passes committee
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – A bill prohibiting public funds from going to homeless outreach caused quite the stir when it was originally introduced. That bill has been changed since then.
'The state makes laws everyday,' Sen. Lisa Standridge, R-Norman, said during debate in committee Tuesday afternoon. 'This law will protect children and that's paramount that the state do.'
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The debate continued for about an hour Tuesday on Standridge's proposal that would outlaw homeless shelters in any community with less than 300,000 residents. In Oklahoma, only Tulsa and Oklahoma City are larger than that. However, new tweaks to the bill has made it only require shelters to be at least 3,000 feet from a place where 'children congregate.'
'We've got to protect our children and keep homeless shelters out of their vicinity,' Standridge said.
'I have grave concerns with the way we are using language of spacing to tell a story of no homeless shelters within a community,' Sen. Nikki Nice, D-Oklahoma City, said in the same debate Tuesday.
Back in January, Standridge appeared on a local radio show, Freedom 96.9, and compared Norman to San Francisco. She also said 'it's like giving a bird a bread crumb. Turn around you've got a whole flock behind you' when speaking about the homeless population. Both city leaders and nonprofits spoke out against the dehumanizing language at the time.
'I feel this bill is very divisive and I want to say that homelessness is a nonpartisan issue,' Ward 4 City Norman Councilwoman Helen Grant said.
'We all work together to try to resolve all these issues and to help people,' Angela-Jimenez-Calhoun, founder of the nonprofit Beacon Project, said at the time.
The changes to the bill came after Standridge admitted that domestic violence victims would have no place to go if shelters closed. She argued that keeping the homeless from children is a valid safety concern. Others argued that homeless individuals are people to.
'This bill in no way closes shelters. This bill in no way restricts cities from building shelters. It just says they shall be away from where children would congregate,' Standridge said.
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'If we could somehow relate to other folks in a way, and get a better understanding of their circumstances we might be a little more open to come up with solutions and not treating them as if they're not fully human,' Sen. Regina Goodwin, D-Tulsa, said in debate Tuesday.
Sen. Standridge provided the following statement Wednesday on the committee passage of her amended version of SB 484.
I filed Senate Bill 484 on behalf of concerned constituents who feel increasingly unsafe in Norman because the growing homeless population is making residents scared to visit local retailers and families frightened to visit neighborhood parks.
This issue is creating countless headaches for local business owners as aggressive panhandlers scare away their patrons and vandalism has become the norm. Public safety was my top priority as I filed this legislation on behalf of constituents. Ensuring there is significant distance between homeless shelters and schools, parks, child care facilities and other places where kids gather is crucial to keeping our children safe.
I received a significant amount of feedback on my original bill and amended my legislation with that community input in mind. Existing homeless shelters will not be affected by this legislation, nor will youth and domestic violence shelters, which play a crucial role in our communities. My bill does not close homeless shelters or prevent cities or local nonprofits from building shelters, it simply seeks to ensure greater oversight of their zoning. I introduced this bill to keep our residents and children safe, these amendments ensure that goal is realized in a thoughtful way.
Sen. Lisa Standridge (R-Norman)
The bill passed out of committee by a 6-3 vote. The full debate can be watched here.
You can click on Calendar-Day/Month, select Feb. 25 and scroll to Local County and Government (Room 230). When you click on it, the debate begins around the 4:40 p.m. mark.
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