MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Vermont legislators are reviewing a bill that would ensure rights for the homeless.
The House bill would seek to establish “a homeless bill of rights and prohibiting discrimination against people without homes,” the Times Argus reports.
Rep. Tom Stevens, a Democrat, has twice submitted the bill since 2017 to the House General, Housing and Military Affairs Committee, without it being approved.
The intent of the bill would be to ensure that no person would be subject to civil or criminal sanctions “for soliciting, sharing, accepting or offering food, water, money or other donations in public places.”
Under the bill’s provisions, an aggrieved person would also have the right to petition in civil court for appropriate relief against damages suffered and costs incurred as a result of violations of their rights.
The resolution notes that a count of the state’s homeless population done on a single night last January found that 1,089 lack secure housing, 23% of whom are children.
Testimony from a Montpelier resident who was homeless for many years was expected at Friday’s hearing, along with testimony from the head of the Montpelier Homelessness Task Force Committee.
On Friday afternoon, the house committee is scheduled to hear from different organizations including the ACLU of Vermont and the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition.
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