Bill Would Withhold Funds To Help Homeless, Ban Living On Public Property
Republican sponsor says it's intended to "defund all the stuff that doesn't work."
File photo by Tom Bamberger.
A Republican bill in the state Legislature would withhold portions of state grants aimed at helping homeless people until certain benchmarks are met.
The bill also creates a criminal penalty for people found temporarily living or encamped on public property unless they are in a recreational campground or police-supervised shelter.
The bill, which received a hearing Tuesday, is based on model legislation from the Texas-based Cicero Institute.
It would have the state Department of Administration withhold 10 to 50 percent of grant funds for agencies addressing homelessness for at least six months. The rest of the money would only be paid if the recipient has met certain benchmarks.
An organization would have to show at least one of three criteria: it increased the number of people securing permanent housing, it increased the number of people securing part-time or full-time employment or it reduced the number of individuals and families returning to homelessness after participating in the program.
“If you can defund all the stuff that doesn’t work and fund the stuff that does work, I think we’d all be better off and have more beds available, and the money going further to help more people,” Rep. Alex Dallman, R-Green Lake, said at the hearing.
Dallman introduced a similar bill last session, but it did not win support in the Senate. Critics say similar legislation pushed in other states by the Cicero Institute seeks to criminalize homelessness.
The bill would also authorize the state’s Department of Administration to create police-supervised temporary shelters on public property.
Under the bill, a resident could petition their municipality to create such an encampment. If the municipality had more unhoused persons than the state average and failed to create an encampment within 12 months of receiving a petition, the DOA could come in and create one.
“I think what you’ve done here is designed something that will fail,” said Rep. Mike Bare, D-Verona. “I hope it’s not designed to fail. But it will, and it will cause harm.”
Devon Kurtz is the public safety policy director of the Cicero Institute. He defended the bill as a first step to solving homelessness.
“First, it sets clear metrics by which policymakers and the public can measure the success of its homelessness programs and holds those programs accountable for their performance,” Kurtz said. “Second, it creates a framework for municipalities to designate so-called structured camping facilities, which are safe, clean and affordable alternatives to people sleeping on the street.”
“Finally, it empowers law enforcement to remove street camps and direct homeless individuals to available shelter options,” he said.
Michael Basford, the director of the Interagency Council on Homelessness, disagreed.
“Rather than invest in providing permanent housing solutions for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, this bill merely facilitates unsheltered homelessness,” Basford said.
Listen to the WPR report here.
GOP bill would withhold funds to fight homelessness, criminalize living on public property was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
If you think stories like this are important, become a member of Urban Milwaukee and help support real, independent journalism. Plus you get some cool added benefits.
Related Legislation: AB 689
If you look up “sick and depraved” in a dictionary you will find a picture of Republicans in the Wisconsin state legislature. My most sincere wish for all of them is to find themselves homeless and subject to the draconian crackpot policies they keep coming up with.
So then Let’s fund what DOES work. I assume the GOP has a list of these programs and is ready to fund them instead.
The Republicans who declare themselves “Good Christians” and are always quoting the Bible, do not read the admonitions of Jesus in Matthew 25: 40-46, especially verses 45 and 46.
horrible ideas designed to fail. The Governor would veto this nonsene.
Another Republican genius with no idea of how the real world works….maybe he should move to Texas!
If you look up the ignorant in the dictionary you will probably see the word “Republican.’ I too wish some of the clueless Republicans find themselves or their relatives ‘homeless’ some day and then expect them to find their way to a campground. If stupidity were a crime, Republicans like this would all be in prison.
What would Jesus do?