100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB5508
 
Introduced 2/16/2018, by Rep. La Shawn K. Ford
 
SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:



775 ILCS 45/10

 Amends the Bill of Rights for the Homeless Act. Provides that if a unit of local government determines that a person experiencing homelessness is living in a public space and requires that person to vacate the public space, the unit of local government shall: (i) provide a 48-hour notice to vacate to that person; (ii) offer to call a paramedic for medical treatment; (iii) offer to provide transportation to the nearest homeless shelter; and (iv) allow the person to collect all personal property and offer bags to transport the personal property.



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A BILL FOR
 


HB5508LRB100 16781 LNS 31921 b



1 AN ACT concerning human rights.


2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,

3represented in the General Assembly:



4 Section 5. The Bill of
Rights for the Homeless Act is 
5amended by changing Section 10 as follows:

6 (775 ILCS 45/10)

7 Sec. 10. Bill of
Rights. 
8 (a) No person's rights, privileges, or access to
public 
9services may be denied or abridged solely because he or she is

10homeless. Such a person shall be granted the same rights and 
11privileges as
any
other citizen of this State. A person 
12experiencing homelessness has the following rights:


13  (1) the right to use and move freely in public spaces, 
14 including but not limited to
public sidewalks, public 
15 parks, public transportation, and public buildings, in the 
16 same manner as
any other person and without discrimination 
17 on the basis of his or her housing status;

18  (2) the right to equal treatment by all State and 
19 municipal agencies, without
discrimination on the basis of 
20 housing status;

21  (3) the right not to face discrimination while 
22 maintaining employment due
to his or her lack of permanent 
23 mailing address, or his or her mailing address being that 
 
 
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1 of a
shelter or social service provider;

2  (4) the right to emergency medical care free from 
3 discrimination based on his or her
housing status;

4  (5) the right to vote, register to vote, and receive 
5 documentation necessary to prove
identity for voting 
6 without discrimination due to his or her housing status;

7  (6) the right to protection from disclosure of his or 
8 her records and information
provided to homeless shelters 
9 and service providers to State, municipal, and private 
10 entities
without appropriate legal authority; and the 
11 right to confidentiality of personal records and

12 information in accordance with all limitations on 
13 disclosure established by the federal Homeless
Management 
14 Information Systems, the federal Health Insurance 
15 Portability and Accountability
Act, and the federal 
16 Violence Against Women Act; and

17  (7) the right to a reasonable expectation of privacy in 
18 his or her personal property to
the same extent as personal 
19 property in a permanent residence.


20 (b)
As used in this Act, "housing status" means the status 
21of
having or not having a fixed or regular residence, including

22the status of living on the streets, in a shelter, or in a

23temporary residence.


24 (c) If a unit of local government determines that a person 
25experiencing homelessness is living in a public space or using 
26a public space in a manner inconsistent with paragraph (1) of 
 
 
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1subsection (a) and requires that person to vacate the public 
2space, the unit of local government shall: 
3  (1) provide a 48-hour notice to that person, both oral 
4 and written and in a language other than English when 
5 appropriate, to vacate the public space and remove all 
6 personal belongings;
7  (2) offer to call for a paramedic for medical treatment 
8 for that person, if necessary; 
9  (3) offer to provide transportation for that person to 
10 the nearest homeless shelter; and 
11  (4) allow that person to collect all personal property 
12 and offer bags to transport the personal property.
13 No unit of local government shall dispose of that person's 
14personal belongings in any manner. 
15(Source: P.A. 98-516, eff. 8-22-13.)