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The Safer Kentucky Act Will Harm Kentuckians: Tell Your Legislator to Vote NO on HB 5

House Bill 5 has been introduced this 2024 session. As currently drafted, this bill does not address the reason for rising unsheltered homelessness: a shortage of at least 90,000 available and affordable rental homes, combined with dramatically increasing rents and lapse of pandemic-era protections and funding. While the primary intent of the bill is public safety and not addressing homelessness, it will nonetheless have profoundly negative impacts on people experiencing homelessness and agencies working to solve it:

The number of people seeking emergency shelter frequently exceeds the number of available beds - ask your local shelter provider how many people they have to turn away - which contributes to the number of people who are trying to survive by camping.
Only about half of Kentucky counties even have a shelter, with significant service deserts in our most rural counties. People in counties without a shelter option would be in violation of this proposed law.
People experiencing homelessness are more likely to be victims of crime compared to the general population, and the current draft does not address their safety concerns.
At this time, 4 other states have passed versions of this legislation. Missouri’s legislation has been overturned by their state Supreme Court. Kentuckians can all agree that we want to reduce unsheltered homelessness - using out-of-state copy-and-paste legislation will not solve homelessness in Kentucky.
Cities already have the ability to create or contract with a nonprofit organization to designate a safe camping space. Because this type of programming is expensive, has the same safety concerns of undesignated encampments, and does not solve the fundamental problem of a lack of housing: camps should be temporary and the last resort, not a permanent infrastructure.
Existing statutes are already used to enforce public safety and address encampment issues, including KRS 525 (disorderly conduct), KRS 218A (possession), KRS 510 (indecent exposure), KRS 519 (obstructing government operations), KRS 508 (menacing), KRS 511 (criminal trespass), KRS 512 (criminal littering and criminal mischief).

The Bottom Line: The Safer KY Act will harm Kentuckians by increasing incarceration of people experiencing homelessness across the Commonwealth.

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Tell Your Legislator: HB 5 Will Harm Kentuckians

The Bottom Line: The Safer KY Act will harm Kentuckians by increasing incarceration of people experiencing homelessness across the Commonwealth.

Send your Kentucky Representatives a Message!

Subject: HB 5 Will Harm Kentuckians

Message:

HB 5 will harm Kentuckians. I urge you to vote NO on this harmful legislation.

Only about half of Kentucky counties have a shelter to serve our homeless neighbors, meaning that criminalizing street and car camping will further penalize Kentuckians who have no other options for shelter. The proposed ban on street camping duplicates existing statutes already in place that are used to enforce public safety ((KRS 525 (disorderly conduct), KRS 218A (possession), KRS 510 (indecent exposure), KRS 519 (obstructing government operations), KRS 508 (menacing), KRS 511 (criminal trespass), KRS 512 (criminal littering and criminal mischief)). It criminalizes rental damages, which should be addressed by security deposits and civil judgments when necessary.

Homelessness and housing can be solved -- but further criminalizing it is not the solution.
Please vote NO on House Bill 5.

The Safer Kentucky Act Will Harm Kentuckians: Tell Your Legislator to Vote NO on HB 5

Tell Your Legislator: HB 5 Will Harm Kentuckians

SORRY!

Thank you for taking action!