NC Senate OKs bill that would regulate where homeless people can sleep

State lawmakers moved forward Wednesday with a bill that supporters say will help cities stop homeless people from sleeping in public spaces.

The state Senate voted 26-16 to pass House Bill 437, which would ban what it calls “unauthorized sleeping” in public spaces and empower local governments to direct homeless people to a designated space — so long as the space isn’t near residential areas, commercial properties or schools. Local governments would have to provide security and supply toilets and running water for sanitation purposes. The bill would also impose harsher restrictions on people who attempt to sell drugs in homeless shelters. 

The bill still needs approval from the House before it can go to Gov. Josh Stein’s desk. 

Supporters of the bill say it will improve public safety, while opponents say it criminalizes homelessness while doing little to address the cause of the problem. 

Sen. Julia Mayfield, D-Buncombe, said she wishes that the bill included funding to support wrap-around services — which can feature assistance with housing, medical care, transportation and more. The services provided in Asheville “reduce the burden on our public safety services tremendously: 911 calls go down, visits to the emergency room go down, everything gets better both for our first responders and our public safety,” she said.

Sen. Mujtaba Mohammed, D-Mecklenburg, alleged that the bill attempts to hide homeless people. “While this bill talks extensively about where homeless people cannot be, it says very little about how we help people get where they need to be,” Mohammed said. 

Sen. Brad Overcash, R-Gaston, took exception to accusations that the bill doesn’t do enough. The problem, he said, is that lawmakers haven’t done enough to this point to cities safe — jeopardizing local businesses. 

“We can stand here in this beautiful chamber and talk [with this] righteous indignation about it, but the problem is going on in our streets, it's going on in our roadways, on our sidewalks, and in our public parks and spaces,” Overcash said. “It's not just beneath the dignity of our homeless residents, it's dangerous to our general society, and it is hurting us and our economic vitality.”