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Many more cities ban sleeping outside despite a lack of shelter space • Alabama Reflector

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3 months ago

January 27, 2025

Staff Editor

alabamareflector.com – Robbie Sequeira – 2025-01-27 12:01:00

Many more cities ban sleeping outside despite a lack of shelter space

by Robbie Sequeira, Alabama Reflector
January 27, 2025

Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s City of Grants Pass v. Johnson ruling last June allowing localities to ban outdoor camping even if there is no homeless shelter space available, roughly 150 cities in 32 states have passed or strengthened such ordinances.

Another 40 or so local bans are pending, according to data sent to Stateline by the National Homelessness Law Center. The measures vary in detail, but they typically include prohibitions on camping, sleeping or storing property on public land. Many also include buffer zones near schools, parks or businesses.

Bans often allow for steep fines and jail time. In Indio, California, for example, people caught camping illegally could face a penalty of up to $1,000 and up to six months in jail. The ordinance in Fresno, California, bans sitting, lying, sleeping or camping on public property anytime, anywhere, with a penalty of up to a year in jail. Elmira, New York, includes sleeping in vehicles in its camping ban.

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Housing advocates and experts anticipate the surge in camping bans to continue in 2025. Supporters of the bans argue that homeless encampments endanger nearby residents and businesses. Critics say the prohibitions will just criminalize visible street homelessness and move it somewhere else.

“The idea behind anti-camping laws is to make homelessness so uncomfortable that people won’t want to experience it. But homelessness is already incredibly uncomfortable, especially during disasters,” said Samantha Batko, a senior fellow in the Housing and Communities Division at the Urban Institute. “Criminalizing homelessness doesn’t solve the problem — it just punishes people, makes it harder for them to find housing or jobs, and keeps them stuck in a cycle of instability.”

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California has the highest number of camping bans, with more than 40 ordinances either passed or introduced since July. It also has about 30% of the nation’s homeless individuals, followed by New York, Florida and Washington state, according to a U.S. Housing and Urban Development report to Congress in 2022.

California Democratic Gov. Newsom invested heavily in encampment clearance and housing, allocating $131 million to municipalities after the Grants Pass ruling. He also issued an executive order to cities to “urgently address homeless encampments.”

Elizabeth Funk, CEO of DignityMoves, a nonprofit that is helping California cities address unsheltered homelessness, anticipates a rise in anti-camping policies in 2025. Still, she said, the Grants Pass ruling could require cities to build more temporary shelters.

“It really is a policy decision, and we have chosen that the only valid use of taxpayer money is permanent housing. But the reality is … we can’t build our way out of this at a million dollars per unit,” said Funk. “Grants Pass removes the excuse that cities can’t act. Unsheltered homelessness is solvable — it starts with providing a roof.”

‘What do we do?’

Florida’s updated law, passed last year, requires counties and municipalities to ban sleeping or camping in public spaces such as parks, sidewalks and the state’s many beaches.

Many local governments scrambled to put local ordinances in place to comply with the law. And as of Jan. 1, residents and business owners have the right to sue municipalities if local efforts to address homelessness are deemed insufficient. The state has around 31,000 homeless residents.

The idea that the problem is such a small number of people … and no matter how much we spend on it, we’re not spending enough to actually fix it, is very frustrating.

– Gainesville, Florida, Mayor Harvey Ward

Gainesville, Florida, Mayor Harvey Ward said the state’s requirements haven’t dramatically changed the city’s response to homelessness.

Gainesville city officials noted philosophical disagreements with the state when they passed an anti-camping ordinance in December to avoid any potential legal action for noncompliance. The ordinance carries no jail time but includes a fine.

Ward said in an interview that he’s seen a major decrease in visible chronic homelessness in the city’s community plaza from a decade ago, a shift he attributes to the opening of more shelter spaces over the years.

“The good news is we don’t have 100 people a night sleeping on the community plaza anymore. I can see progress. I’m just not sure how to make that sort of leap in progress again,” said Ward, who is a registered Democrat, though the mayoral position is nonpartisan.

He said the state’s ban mandate also complicates how Gainesville and other cities respond to chronic street homelessness, especially given Florida’s bottom-tier spending on mental health services.

“The idea that the problem is such a small number of people — fewer than 1,000 chronic homeless folks in any year — and no matter how much we spend on it, we’re not spending enough to actually fix it, is very frustrating,” Ward said.

“We’ve plateaued. There are folks who, for whatever reason, either can’t be admitted to a shelter because of past issues or refuse to go. But they’re not doing anything illegal, so what do we do? How do we help someone who refuses services and isn’t breaking the law?”

‘No one chooses to sleep outside’

The rise in anti-camping ordinances after the Grants Pass ruling was a predictable outcome, even in cities that have no other options for people who don’t have homes, said Jesse Rabinowitz, campaign and communications director at the National Homelessness Law Center.

“A large misconception is that people choose to experience homelessness. But no one chooses to sleep outside. People are forced into homelessness because elected officials fail to ensure safe and affordable housing,” said Rabinowitz. “The Grants Pass approach — making cities inhospitable to force people to leave — has been tried before. It’s expensive, ineffective, and only prolongs homelessness.”

Yet the approach is quickly gaining ground.

In November, Arizona voters approved a ballot measure allowing property owners to apply for reimbursements for public nuisance expenses when the government fails to enforce laws related to camping and loitering.

A Republican-led bill in Washington state — where six municipalities have passed or strengthened anti-camping ordinances since the Grants Pass ruling — would require most local governments to ban encampments near schools and parks by May 2027. It would offer grants for encampment sweeps, but also would pull funding from localities that don’t enforce the ban. The bill remains in committee.

Among the state’s cities with a ban in place is Spokane Valley, which updated its ordinance last fall. The updates include upgrading the violation of being in a city park after dark from a civil infraction to a misdemeanor, and changing the definition of “camping” to include sleeping overnight with or without camping gear.

Little has changed with enforcement in the interim months, wrote city spokesperson Jill Smith in an email to Stateline. The city also has several employees dedicated to connecting unhoused residents with services, she said, and it added a second outreach police officer in December.

Devon Kurtz, the public safety policy director at the Cicero Institute, a conservative think tank, argues that camping bans are necessary to address unsafe encampments and unsheltered homelessness, and that they can be part of a system that helps reluctant individuals receive help.

In a recently published interview with the Philanthropy Roundtable, which advises conservative philanthropists, Kurtz warned that “homeless encampments are toxic environments filled with waste and trash, and are often hotbeds of crime.”

Advocates in many states are pushing back. After a successful petitioning effort by local residents, the city of Morgantown, West Virginia, will allow voters to decide in April whether to overturn a new camping ban passed last fall. As of November, the city had 28 shelter beds to serve an estimated homeless population of 150.

Do they work?

A 2024 RAND study found that policy changes — such as encampment sweeps and camping bans — in three Los Angeles neighborhoods temporarily reduced visible homelessness, but within months the unsheltered populations rose slightly in two of the communities and doubled in the third.

The survey found chronic mental and physical health issues and substance use disorders affecting more than half of respondents, with Skid Row residents being the oldest and least healthy.

Experts also argue that these laws are ineffective and costly, with a 2020 federal report finding sweeps in four cities cost $1,672 to $6,208 per unsheltered person annually.

Jeremy Ney, a data researcher who publishes the American Inequality newsletter, said that while a lack of affordable housing is a root cause of rising homelessness, responses to homelessness need to accompany policies that address other chronic barriers to stability.

“Housing alone is not enough. We also need employment, mental health, addiction and social service support systems that can ensure people stay in those homes,” Ney said.

Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org.

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Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com.

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News from the South - Alabama News Feed

Alabama Legislature sends 2026 ETF, General Fund budgets to Gov. Kay Ivey

Published

23 hours ago

April 30, 2025

Staff Editor

alabamareflector.com – Alander Rocha – 2025-04-30 07:01:00

by Alander Rocha, Alabama Reflector
April 30, 2025

The Alabama Legislature Tuesday gave final approval to the state’s two budgets for the 2026 fiscal year, but not without a battle.

The Alabama Senate passed a $3.7 billion 2026 General Fund budget late Tuesday night on a 30-0 vote after an hours-long slowdown.

HB 186, sponsored by Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville, would provide a 10% increase ($347 million) over the current budget for the 2026 fiscal year, which starts October 1.

“In many cases, you had a reduction in what your request had been. Everyone of us had that … so we’re in a dichotomy here where we have the largest budget we’ve ever had, and yet, we have the tightest constraints and control that we’ve had in recent memory,” said Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, who chairs the Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee, pointing to Medicaid’s significant budget increase that will bring its budget to over $1 billion.

Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, asked for the 125-page funding bill to be read in its entirety Tuesday afternoon, which delayed the vote by hours. He said after the Senate adjourned that he didn’t want controversial bills to be passed without deliberation, and that he was afraid the Senate would move to adopt a different set of bills to consider.

“[The House] did have a second calendar, and it was going to be the same thing here in terms of the desire to have a second calendar, and I thought that we need to just work on that particular calendar,” Smitherman said after the Senate adjourned.

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The Alabama Medicaid Agency, which provides health insurance for over 1 million Alabamians, nearly all children, elderly citizens and those with disabilities, will get $1.179 billion from the state, a $223.8 million (19%) increase over this year. Ivey requested $1.184 billion in February, about $5 million more than what the House approved.

The Alabama Department of Corrections, which administers the state prisons, will get a $90.1 million increase (11%) to $826.7 million.

The Alabama Department of Human Resources, which provides child and adult protective services, enforces child support payments and administers food and family assistance, will get $148.9 million from the state in 2026, a $4.7 million (3%) increase from the current budget.

The Alabama Department of Mental Health, which provides mental health care services in the state, will get a $4.7 million increase (2%) to $244 million. The Legislature cut the funding from Ivey’s recommendation by $3.7 million.

But senators also appeared to want to send a message to the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles, which has drawn mounting criticism from Democratic and Republican senators over low parole rates and what senators consider a lack of responsiveness to their questions about the parole process. The Senate cut the board’s funding from $94.5 million to $90.6 million, a 4.1% decrease.

In addition, Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, added an amendment to make funding for the Board of Pardons & Paroles conditional on the board developing parole release guidelines. The amendment passed on a 27-0 vote.

“What they do, as y’all know, they adopt guidelines. Those are supposed to be updated and revised. They have not done that,” he said.

The board has faced backlash after parole rates declined significantly after 2017, when members granted parole to about 54% of applicants. The rates fell as low as 7% at times, according to an analysis by the ACLU of Alabama in 2023, but rebounded to slightly more than 20% within the past year.

The Senate also passed HB 185, also sponsored by Reynolds, which would appropriate $50 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to the Department of Finance and provide over $12.6 million to the Unified Judicial System.

“This bill is supplemental monies just taking federal money and appropriating it,” Albritton said.

The House concurred with the changes late Tuesday evening, sending the bill to Gov. Kay Ivey.

The Senate also concurred with House changes to SB 112, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, a nearly $10 billion 2026 Education Trust Fund budget (ETF).

The House changes added $17.6 million to the budget, bringing it to a 6% increase over the 2025 ETF budget. The budget does not contain pay raises for teachers in the 2025-26 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1. But it includes a $99.2 million increase for the Public Education Employees’ Health Insurance Plan, as well as funding for workman’s compensation for education employees and paid parental leave.

The Senate also concurred with the ETF supplemental funding bills, including SB 113, also sponsored by Orr, a $524 million 2025 supplemental appropriation for education that passed the House with an amendment changing language to clarify dual enrollment programs funding.

The Senate also concurred with House changes to SB 111, sponsored by Orr, which would appropriate $375 million over three years to implement changes to the state’s school funding formula.

The House added an additional $80 million from the Education Opportunity Reserve Fund to the Creating Hope and Opportunity for Our Students’ Education (CHOOSE) Act Fund, a voucher-like program that gives tax credits for non-public school spending, including private school tuition. The first-year cost estimate will go from $100 million to $180 million, an 80% increase. Over two-thirds of applicants to the program are already in private school or are homeschooled.

The story was updated at 10:30 a.m. to include comment from Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, regarding the procedural delay.

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Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

The content primarily reports on the legislative proceedings and budget approval in Alabama, focusing on the specifics of the Senate’s actions, including discussions and amendments. The tone is factual, without clear support or opposition to any political party or position. It details the actions of both Republican and Democratic senators, presenting them neutrally. The mention of funding allocations, including increases for Medicaid and the Department of Corrections, appears to be a straightforward report on the outcome of legislative decisions, without showing favor to any side. The coverage adheres to neutral, factual reporting rather than offering an ideological stance.

News from the South - Alabama News Feed

Bail reform bills moving through Alabama Legislature in final days of session

Published

2 days ago

April 29, 2025

Staff Editor

alabamareflector.com – Ralph Chapoco – 2025-04-29 07:01:00

by Ralph Chapoco, Alabama Reflector
April 29, 2025

Two bills that would change Alabama’s bail system are working their way through the Legislature in the waning days of the 2025 session.

The Senate Judiciary Committee hosted a public hearing Wednesday for HB 42, sponsored by Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, which gives judges the authority to allow defendants to pay a portion of their total bond to be released from pretrial detention.

HB 410, sponsored by Rep. Shane Stringer, R-Citronelle, which was approved by the House Judiciary Committee, modifies the composition of the Alabama Professional Bail Bonding Board, expands the exemptions for the fees that bail bond companies must pay the court, increases penalties for bail jumping and adds more regulations for bail bond companies when they operate in another state.

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A message was sent to Stringer Monday seeking comment.

HB 42 has passed the House and is awaiting a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The House is scheduled to vote on HB 410 on Tuesday. England’s bill adds three words, “a part of” back into an Alabama statute that were removed when the same Legislature enacted the Alabama Bail Reform Act of 1993.

The removal of the words meant judges in the state could not allow defendants to pay a percentage of their bond to get release from pretrial detention.

“What that translates into is a large amount of money that would normally go to the court system, instead of going to the court system, it goes to a bondsman,” England said to the committee Wednesday.

People can secure their release after an arrest if they pay a bail bond company. The premium, which is typically 10% of the total amount of the bond, is paid to the bail bond company, which then must ensure the individuals go to their court appearances.

The money that people pay when released on a percentage bond would be retained by the court and kept if defendants fail to appear for their court dates.

The Alabama Bail Bond Association has been a vocal opponent of the bill, speaking out against the legislation at a March public hearing and the House Judiciary Committee considered it then and eventually approved the bill a week later.

Victor Howard, vice president of the Alabama Bail Bond Association and bail bond company owner, said that enacting the legislation would reduce accountability for defendants to appear for their court dates.

Chris McNeil, the president of the Alabama Bail Bond Association, suggested Monday in an interview that the rates that people would not appear for court would increase. He also cited records from the Alabama Administrative Office of Courts saying that people who paid cash to be released from pretrial detention in 2022 and 2023 had a failure to appear (FTA) rate of 55%.

“The court just can’t function when you have a failure to appear rate of 55%,” McNeil said Monday. “The bonding companies were averaging about a 14%-15% failure to appear rate. And were able to trim that rate by returning defendants back to court.”

England told the committee that the numbers do not present a fair comparison to percentage bonds.

“The numbers are obviously going to be off because there are more people on smaller offenses with cash bonds versus somebody who is on a large bond with a bondsman,” England said to the committee on Wednesday. “Obviously, there is going to be a higher number of FTAs on smaller cases, traffic tickets, because they all count.”

Jerome Dees, policy director from the Southern Poverty Law Center, supported the legislation.

“The vast majority of times when there was an FTA that was ultimately secured, and the defendant showed up in court, it largely was due to law enforcement bringing that individual in and not the bail bond company,” he said to the committee on Wednesday. “That is not to say that it never happened, but the vast majority of time it was law enforcement bringing that particular individual in.”

McNeil said in an interview Monday he supports HB 410, Stringer’s bill.

“It expands the Alabama Professional Bail Bonding Board by adding a sheriff to the board, adding a layperson, so I think that is very important,” he said.

It also states that any fees that bail bond companies pay to the court that have not been deposited within 90 days and that have an expiration date “shall be deemed uncollected” and will no longer hold the bail bond company responsible for making the payment.

The bill also exempts bail bond companies from fees that the courts or district attorneys have not attempted to collect past one year from the original due date.

HB 410 also adds more conditions such that the bail bond company will not pay a fee, known as forfeiture, to the court when in cases that the defendant fails to appear in court.

McNeil said the bill would cancel that forfeiture payment if someone was not placed in the National Crime Information Center and failed to appear in court, or if the bail bond company brings back a defendant that the jail refuses to accept.

The bill also addresses instances when an individual travels out of state and enhances the penalty for bail jumping, going from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class D felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $7,500 fine.

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The post Bail reform bills moving through Alabama Legislature in final days of session appeared first on alabamareflector.com

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

The content focuses on legislative efforts to reform Alabama’s bail system, highlighting a bill sponsored by a Democratic representative aimed at allowing partial bond payments to reduce the financial burden on defendants. It presents arguments from both supporters and opponents, including the bail bond industry’s concerns and civil rights advocacy perspectives. The article leans slightly left by emphasizing criminal justice reform and the perspective of proponents seeking to reduce penal system inequities, yet it maintains a generally balanced tone by including conservative viewpoints and the legislative process details.

News from the South - Alabama News Feed

7-Year-Old Calls 911, Helps Save Family Member's Life | April 28, 2025 | News 19 at 10 p.m.

Published

2 days ago

April 28, 2025

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – WHNT News 19 – 2025-04-28 23:17:38

SUMMARY: Seven-year-old Maddux Kendrick from New Market showed remarkable bravery by calling 911 when his stepmom, Megan Douglas, who has epilepsy, suffered a seizure on New Year’s Day. While playing video games and watching TV, Maddux noticed Megan fell and was having a seizure. Calmly, he first called Megan’s mother and then 911, providing precise information and helping the operator monitor Megan’s breathing until EMTs arrived. His quick thinking likely saved her life, as she later had another seizure and might have suffered worse alone. Maddux received a Good Samaritan Award for his courage and presence of mind, making his family very proud.