A bipartisan group of lawmakers want California to adopt San Diego’s stricter limits on homeless encampments as the nation’s top court considers re-writing the rule book entirely.
The proposal, Senate Bill 1011, prohibits camping near schools, transit stops or “open spaces” throughout the state, regardless of whether shelter was available. Tents on sidewalks would be banned as long as beds were available.
Homeless people should be warned at least three days before a sweep and receive information about available services.
“This bill strikes an appropriate balance between accountability and compassion,” state Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, a Republican from Santee and the bill’s sponsor, said at a press conference in Sacramento Tuesday.
He was one of several proponents to tout the parallels with San Diego’s camping ban. “They are having great success so far,” he added.
The city’s ordinance took effect in July.
San Diego police have issued relatively few tickets, but the threat of enforcement has corresponded with a sharp drop in homelessness downtown and more people asking for shelter.
At the same time, encampments are up along the riverbed and anecdotal evidence suggests some people simply traded San Diego for a neighboring city. There is also not enough shelter space for everyone who wants a spot.
It’s unclear whether the bill has enough support in the Statehouse to become law, and a similar proposal from Jones failed last year.
Yet growing homelessness has led Democrats to increasingly join with Republicans in calling for more police enforcement and the Supreme Court recently agreed to consider whether people have a right to sleep on public property when there’s no other place to stay.
Some lawmakers said the measure wasn’t meant to “criminalize” homelessness but put more pressure on people to seek help.
“This is a true humanitarian crisis,” said state Sen. Catherine Blakespear, Democrat of Encinitas and the bill’s main co-author. She argued that stricter penalties would lead to the creation of more shelter and housing. “Laws like this one will help create the momentum that is necessary to push all levels of society to create those inside living spaces.”
Violating the rules would be a misdemeanor.
There are some differences with San Diego’s ordinance. For example, the city only requires a 24-hour heads up before a site is cleared and more locations are listed as off limits for camping, including waterways.
The press conference included the Instagram influencer Ricci Wynne, whose filmed confrontations with apparent drug users in San Francisco has made him popular in outlets like The Daily Mail and The New York Post.
