WV House Judiciary considers statewide camping ban aimed at homeless people

The bill has carve outs for lawfully camping in campgrounds or trailer parks approved for that use.

The legislation was before the House Judiciary Committee for a hearing Tuesday morning.

Following a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year upholding a camping ban in Grants Pass, Oregon, dozens of local governments around the country have passed similar laws as they grapple with record levels of homelessness amid a shortage of affordable housing.

Opponents of the laws say camping bans do nothing to address homelessness and even make the problem worse by imposing fines and criminal records on people who have nowhere else to go.

In West Virginia, Morgantown, Clarksburg, Bluefield and Princeton passed camping bans last year after the Grants Pass decision. Morgantown鈥檚 camping ban is on the ballot for the city鈥檚 April election after a coalition successfully petitioned the city council to reconsider the law.

Delegate Geno Chiarelli, R-Monongalia, lead sponsor of HB 2382, said the legislation is in response to Morgantown鈥檚 ban being challenged and possibly overturned. Chiarelli said he thought the ordinance would have been a positive step for the city.

鈥淚 think that the quality of life in Morgantown is not the same as it was 10 years ago, and I thought this was something that we could do to try and get us back on track,鈥� Chiarelli told a reporter after the meeting. 鈥淚t is no silver bullet piece of ordinance, legislation. We know those things don鈥檛 exist, but I liked where things were going.

鈥淎nd then I found out that it was, it was going to be overturned via the petition and everything, and I didn鈥檛 think that that was the right decision,鈥� he said.

During the judiciary meeting Tuesday, the bill drew questions from Democrat lawmakers about what the bill would mean when there鈥檚 no shelter space available to people.

What the bill says, possible side effects

According to the bill, no criminal penalty will be imposed on a person unless they鈥檝e been offered an alternative place to sleep and declined.

But Chiarelli said the bill requires only that people be notified of any alternative shelter and does not contemplate what would happen if no space is available.

Many West Virginia counties, particularly rural areas, do not have emergency homeless shelters. In cities like 乱伦内射, Wheeling and Morgantown that do have services, those shelters are regularly full.

Delegate Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, said one of the bill鈥檚 unintended side effects could be that more homeless people may come to places like Morgantown where more services are available to them.

Delegate Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, argued that, because the bill outlaws camping as defined by using sleeping bags, blankets, tarps and other 鈥渃amping paraphernalia鈥� it would require homeless people to give up protection from the cold or risk breaking the law. That could violate the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, he said.

鈥淢y question now is, if the state is now saying that you have to give up protections, which are biologically required because you need to sleep, are we not then becoming violative of the Eighth Amendment in creating a situation where it鈥檚 cruel and unusual by telling people they have to give up their belongings, their protections, because that is now camping and violative of the law?鈥� Fluharty said.

After the meeting, Chiarelli said shelter beds are something that would have to be figured out moving forward. He pointed to a 鈥渘umber of pieces of legislation鈥� that address affordable housing and making life better for homeless people, including House Bill 2935, entitled 鈥渁 comprehensive approach to homelessness,鈥� which is pending in the Judiciary committee.

鈥淥f course, those kinds of things take money, and I鈥檓 never opposed to spending money to make life better for people, but it has to be done in a fiscally responsible way,鈥� he said.

The bill may next come back before the Judiciary Committee for amendments and passage before going to the full House of Delegates for a vote.