Homeless Issues In St. Cloud Might Grow With Proposed Legislation

Proposed legislation in both the Minnesota House and Senate would look to 'decriminalize' homelessness. The two proposed pieces would make it harder for cities to police homelessness, as well as require cities to have real, accessible shelter options before enforcing laws.

Decriminalizing Homelessness In Minnesota

According to the House proposed bill 5004, the bill would limit when cities or counties can punish homeless people for being in public spaces, especially when they’re just doing basic survival things like sleeping or eating.

A city cannot ticket, fine, or arrest a homeless person for doing those basic things in public if there’s no real indoor place available for them to go. The indoor space specifically has to be actually usable, not just “technically exist.”

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What Counts As An Acceptable Shelter According To HF 5004?

The proposed bill sets the bar rather high for what an acceptable shelter is for homeless individuals.

• Be free
• Be available long-term (not day-to-day lottery or reapplying)
• Allow them to stay with family/partner
• Allow pets and belongings 
• Not force them to give up legal rights
• Be physically accessible

Things that would meet this threshold would be tiny homes, shelters with full access, or designated parking spots/areas with bathroom access.

What Would Be Allowed Under This Bill

If this legislation gets passed, it will trump any city or county laws on camping in parks. Which would mean that homeless individuals would be permitted to sleep in parks overnight, ask for donations on public property, stay parked in a car or RV (legally), and allow them to move their vehicle before it is ticketed.

East End Already Dealing With Homeless Issues

St. Cloud's East End is already dealing with issues from homelessness. I'd be interested to see if the issues would increase if this legislation were to be passed.

I'm all for helping the homeless, but this proposal doesn't solve the issue, but puts a burden on the municipality to build/create shelters in a world where everything is already costing more, and property taxes have increased significantly.

READ MORE FROM PAUL SHEA