House Bill 1925 was approved by the Texas House earlier this month, and, now, the Senate has amended it to include a ban on cities using public parks

Homeless Camping Ban Close To Becoming Law In Texas

submited by

Style Pass

2021-05-22 22:30:07

House Bill 1925 was approved by the Texas House earlier this month, and, now, the Senate has amended it to include a ban on cities using public parks for temporary camps. It would not allow those who break the law to be arrested unless the situation is a public safety threat.

The bill will now go back to the House and if the House accepts the amendments, it will head to Gov. Gregg Abbott. On Friday, Abbott showed support on Twitter, saying, in part, “One step closer to my desk for signing! Thank you.”

If this becomes law, people would not be allowed to camp in a public places, like under highways, without authorization and violations could result in a fine up to $500.

His non-profit, Our Calling, helps the homeless. He said this ban would directly impact the homeless who’d have nowhere to go. He said right now there are 10,000 homeless people living in Dallas, with just 2,000 shelter beds available.

“The problem is there’s not enough shelter space,” he said. “Today, we had seven shelter beds that we could fill and we filled them up within minutes. So if you’re going to make it illegal for them to camp, the same people that sign those things also need to write checks on an alternative.”