Bill Text: CA SB876 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Homelessness.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - From committee without further action. [SB876 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SB876-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 876 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 28, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 7, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE FEBRUARY 22, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Liu
JANUARY 14, 2016
An act to add Part 2.2 (commencing with Section 53.8) to Division
1 of the Civil Code, and to add Section 11139.2 to, the Government
Code, relating to homelessness.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 876, as amended, Liu. Homelessness.
Existing law provides that no person shall, on the basis of race,
national origin, ethnic group identification, religion, age, sex,
sexual orientation, color, genetic information, or disability, be
unlawfully denied full and equal access to the benefits of, or be
unlawfully subjected to discrimination under, any program or activity
that is conducted, operated, or administered by the state or by any
state agency, is funded directly by the state, or receives any
financial assistance from the state.
This bill would afford persons experiencing homelessness the right
to use public spaces without discrimination based on their housing
status and describe basic human and civil rights that may be
exercised without being subject to criminal or civil sanctions,
including the right to use and to move freely in public spaces, the
right to rest in public spaces and to protect oneself from the
elements, the right to eat in any public space in which having food
is not prohibited, and the right to perform religious observances in
public spaces, as specified. The bill would state the intent of the
Legislature that these provisions be interpreted broadly so as to
prohibit policies or practices that are discriminatory in either
their purpose or effect.
The bill would authorize a person whose rights have been violated
pursuant to these provisions to enforce those rights in a civil
action in which the court may award the prevailing plaintiff
injunctive and declaratory relief, restitution, damages, statutory
damages of $1,000 per violation, and fees and costs.
The bill would also require all applicants for the United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development's Continuum of Care
Homeless Assistance Program to annually provide to the Department of
Housing and Community Development's Division of Housing Policy
Development a copy of its application for funding from the United
States Department of Housing and Urban Development that includes the
organization's response to the application question regarding steps
that its community is taking to reduce criminalization of
homelessness. Because the bill would require local agencies to
perform additional duties, it would impose a state-mandated local
program. The bill would require the Department of Housing and
Community Development to compile the information regarding community
actions to reduce criminalization of homelessness found in those
applications and provide a report to the Assembly Housing and
Community Development Committee and the Senate Transportation and
Housing Committee
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) According to the United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development's report to Congress, 115,738 people were estimated to
be homeless in California in 2014, a rate that is unprecedented
following a deep and prolonged economic recession, a severe shortage
of safe and affordable housing, a failed veteran and civilian mental
health system, and a diminished social safety net.
(b) According to the United States Department of Education,
284,086 schoolchildren were known to have experienced homelessness in
the 2013-14 school year.
(c) Homelessness is an independent risk factor for a number of
illnesses, making people more susceptible to increased health
problems due to high stress, sleep deprivation, unsanitary
surroundings, lack of access to hygiene facilities, and a myriad of
other situational stressors experienced by people without stable
housing. Subsequently, people who are chronically homeless are more
medically frail and three to four times more likely to die
prematurely than their housed counterparts.
(d) Throughout California, local governments have enacted
ordinances that make it illegal to rest or receive nourishment in
public spaces.
(e) Ending homelessness in California will require significant
state and federal resources and there is ample evidence that policies
that invest in ending homelessness, rather than criminalizing and
marginalizing people who are experiencing homelessness, adequately
balance the needs of all parties: community residents, government
agencies, businesses, and men and women who are experiencing
homelessness.
(f) Passing this act will not reduce homelessness, but neither
will local ordinances that criminalize homelessness. Instead,
ordinances that criminalize homelessness result in increased
incarceration rates and financial indebtedness of people who simply
have no means of support and prolong homelessness by making it more
difficult for people to secure housing, employment, and medical care.
Criminalization policies further marginalize men and women who are
experiencing homelessness, fuel inflammatory attitudes, and may even
unduly restrict constitutionally protected liberties.
(g) That is why, on September 18, 2015, the United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development included in the annual
Notice of Funding Availability for the 2015 Continuum of Care Program
funding competition, Competition
provisions that would award additional points to any application that
could include steps the community is taking to reduce
criminalization of homelessness.
(h) It is also why, on August 6, 2015, the United States
Department of Justice submitted a rare statement of interest in a
United States District Court in opposition to the criminalization of
people who are homeless, calling it cruel and unusual punishment to
punish someone for a crime with the potential for imprisonment and a
violation of constitutional rights.
(i) While these ordinances apply to all residents, they
disproportionately impact people without homes, who have no private
place to rest or seek nourishment, and are often selectively applied
by law enforcement to people based upon their appearance or an
assumption of homelessness.
(j) In practice, these ordinances deprive persons experiencing
homelessness and those who may be perceived as homeless of a safe and
legal place to rest and seek nourishment, which adversely impacts
their health and well-being.
(k) Sleep deprivation impairs cognitive processes and puts one at
risk for obesity, heart disease, heart attack, heart failure,
irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, and
depression. People who are homeless suffer from sleep deprivation
and, absent a place to rest, they suffer it more frequently.
(l) Because current practices have denied the right to adequate
legal representation to people cited or arrested while resting or
sharing food, homeless persons are often denied relief or damages
through the courts.
(m) Both the federal government, through its Interagency Council
on Homelessness, and the United Nations have recognized that
discrimination and criminalization violate a homeless person's human
rights and have called upon state and local governments to cease
enactment and enforcement of those laws.
(n) Homelessness and the increasing criminalization of
homelessness and discrimination against those experiencing
homelessness are widespread throughout California and are matters of
statewide concern.
(o) Section 1 of Article I of the California Constitution provides
that " a]ll people are by nature free and independent and have
inalienable rights. Among these are enjoying and defending life and
liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing
and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy," without qualification
as to whether or not a person is, or appears to be, homeless.
(p) Subdivision (a) of Section 7 of Article I of the California
Constitution provides that "a] person may not be deprived of life,
liberty, or property without due process of law or denied equal
protection of the laws ... ."
(q) Concordant with this fundamental belief, a person should not
be subject to discrimination based on his or her income, housing
status, or ability or desire to appear housed. Therefore, it is the
intent of the Legislature in enacting this legislation to protect the
rights of all Californians, regardless of their housing status, and
ameliorate the adverse effects caused by the criminalization of
homelessness on our communities and our citizens.
(r) Decriminalization of rest allows municipal governments to
redirect resources from local enforcement activities to activities
that address the root causes of homelessness and poverty.
SEC. 2. Part 2.2 (commencing with Section 53.8) is added to
Division 1 of the Civil Code, to read:
PART 2.2. Homeless Persons
53.8. For purposes of this part, the following definitions shall
apply:
(a) "Homeless persons," "homeless people," or "persons
experiencing homelessness" means those individuals or members of
families who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence,
including people defined as homeless using the criteria established
in the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing
(HEARTH) Act of 2009.
(b) "Public space" means any property that is owned by a
government entity or any property upon which there
is an easement for public use and that is held open to the public,
including, but not limited to, plazas, courtyards, parking lots,
sidewalks, public transportation facilities and services, public
buildings, shopping centers, and parks. The ability to rest
shall not apply to a public space during a time it is closed to all
persons or when a fee is required for entry or use.
(c) "Rest" means the state of not moving, holding certain postures
that include, but are not limited to, sitting, standing, leaning,
kneeling, squatting, sleeping, or lying.
53.81. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that this section
be interpreted broadly so as to prohibit policies or practices that
are discriminatory in either their purpose or effect.
(b) Persons experiencing homelessness shall be permitted to use
public space in the ways described in this section at any time that
the public space is open to the public without discrimination based
upon their housing status, and without being subject to criminal,
civil, or administrative penalties. Permitted use of the public space
include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Free movement without restraint.
(2) Sleeping or resting, and protecting oneself from the elements
while sleeping or resting in a nonobstructive manner.
(3) Eating, sharing, accepting, or giving food in a space in which
having food is not otherwise generally prohibited.
(4) Praying, meditating, worshiping, or practicing religion.
(c) Nothing in this section shall prevent law enforcement from
enforcing laws to protect the right of people to use the sidewalk
pursuant to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42
U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.).
(d) Nothing in this section shall prevent law enforcement from
enforcing the Penal Code, except subdivision (e) of Section 647 of
the Penal Code, so far as it prohibits rest.
rest in public spaces as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 53.8.
53.82. (a) Any person whose rights have been violated pursuant to
this part may enforce those rights in a civil action.
(b) The court may award appropriate injunctive and declaratory
relief, restitution for loss of property or personal effects and
belongings, actual damages, compensatory damages, exemplary damages,
statutory damages of one thousand dollars ($1,000) per violation, and
reasonable attorney's fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff.
SEC. 3. Section 11139.2 is added to the Government Code, to read:
11139.2. To improve monitoring of discrimination based upon
housing status and violations of Part 2.2 (commencing with Section
53.8) of Division 1 of the Civil Code, and to ensure that people who
are experiencing homelessness are not unlawfully denied full and
equal access to the benefits of state-funded programs or assistance,
or unlawfully subjected to discrimination, all applicants for the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's Continuum
of Care Homeless Assistance Program shall annually provide to the
Department of Housing and Community Development's Division of Housing
Policy Development a copy of its application for funding from the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development that
includes the organization's response to the application question
regarding steps that its community is taking to reduce
criminalization of homelessness. Notwithstanding Section 10231.5,
the Department of Housing and Community Development shall compile
the information regarding community actions to reduce criminalization
of homelessness found in those applications and provide an annual
report to the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee
and the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee.
SEC. 4. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.
