City officials throughout Oregon say they need more leeway to clear homeless camps as the state grapples with a housing crisis that shows no signs of abating.
Now they鈥檙e taking aim at a 2021 law they say stands in their way.
Last week, the League of Oregon Cities announced one of its top priorities in next year鈥檚 legislative session will be to win clearer authority for local governments to sweep camps their leaders believe are problematic.
The group is looking to roll back a law 鈥� championed by Gov. Tina Kotek when she served as a legislator 鈥� that blocks cities from enforcing camping policies that are not 鈥渙bjectively reasonable.鈥�
By easing limits on how cities can regulate camping, the group says, lawmakers could 鈥減rovide cities with the necessary tools to address unsafe camping conditions, safeguard public spaces, and protect the health, safety, and wellness of all community members.鈥�
The idea has: At least one lawmaker, Democratic Sen. Mark Meek, plans to push a bill that would remove restrictions in Oregon law on how cities clear camps. Republicans have maligned current state policy as a 鈥渞ight-to-camp鈥� law.
But the push is also certain to meet robust opposition from those who say cities already have plenty of power to address camps that pose hazards to safety or feature criminal activity.
Advocates for the houseless say rolling back the state鈥檚 camping policies will make things worse for vulnerable people who have nowhere else to go, and distract from the real solution of building vastly more housing.
鈥淎nything we do that is taking away from our energy towards those solutions is bad for the state,鈥� said Sybil Hebb, director of legislative advocacy at the Oregon Law Center, which represents houseless residents. 鈥淚t鈥檚 certainly bad for our clients, and I think it鈥檚 bad for communities.鈥�
Grants Pass ruling resonates
The emerging debate could upend how camping is regulated across the state at a time cities and states around the country are rethinking their stances on the matter. It鈥檚 the result of a major shakeup in the legal landscape around anti-camping policies.
For years, federal appeals court rulings that impacted Oregon set a high bar for such policies: that cities could not punish people for sleeping outside unless there was shelter space available as an alternative.
Those rulings led Kotek to introduce a bill in 2021, House Bill 3115, she to create camping policies in line with the federal standard. The bill gave homeless residents the power to sue cities if they were victims of camping enforcement policies that weren鈥檛 鈥渙bjectively reasonable,鈥� a term that was not defined in statute.
Cities and homeless advocates sat in on a workgroup in 2021 that hammered out the bill鈥檚 particulars, and the League of Oregon Cities adopted a neutral stance on the bill.
But earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court shattered the federal precedent. In a case that centered on the anti-camping ordinance in Grants Pass, the court to regulate encampments.
The ruling spurred in some places. California Gov. Gavin Newsom to begin clearing sites on state-owned land, and to cities who didn鈥檛 follow suit. The City of San Francisco also.
In Oregon, the 2021 law 鈥� and the various city policies that cropped up in its wake 鈥� ensured that little changed. The law鈥檚 fans say that it has worked.
鈥淗B 3115 was thoughtfully negotiated and sets the right balance between the legitimate desire of cities to monitor and regulate health and safety issues on the streets, and the survival needs of homeless residents,鈥� said state Rep. Pam Marsh, the Ashland Democrat who chairs a committee on housing and homelessness issues that would almost certainly consider any change.
While local leaders press for more authority to clear encampments, Marsh said she鈥檚 also hearing from homeless advocates urging her to make the state鈥檚 restrictions on camping ordinances stronger. 鈥淢y strong belief is that we just need to leave the bill alone,鈥� she said.
Oregon鈥檚 law does not preclude sweeps. Portland and other cities in the state.
But the state law also gives houseless residents and their advocates leverage to fight policies they believe are harmful. When Portland floated a ban on camping on public property from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. last year, it was by the Oregon Law Center. The organization and its houseless clients argued in part the policy was not objectively reasonable as required under state law.
The lawsuit eventually led Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler to earlier this year.
鈥淲hat this does is it gives us now some reasonable tools for people who just don鈥檛 want to work with us,鈥� Wheeler said at the time.
What cities want
The League of Oregon Cities has not unveiled a proposed bill for next year鈥檚 session, but says it鈥檚 looking for a few key changes.
First it wants state law to grant cities blanket permission to clear camps set up in certain areas, such as sidewalks within a certain distance of schools. And the group wants the law to explicitly define what 鈥渙bjectively reasonable鈥� means. The term was left largely undefined in current law in part to allow cities with vastly different circumstances to craft policies that suit their needs, advocates say.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e very aware of the sensitivity of this issue,鈥� said Alexandra Ring, who lobbies on housing issues for the League of Oregon Cities. Ring said the group wants to 鈥渂alance cities鈥� needs with a common idea of shared humanity. We鈥檙e not looking to rush to make changes.鈥�
Not all of the league鈥檚 241 member cities are on board. Notably, Portland Mayor-elect Keith Wilson 鈥� who won office on a promise to end unsheltered homelessness 鈥� told OPB he will not back proposed changes to the state law.
鈥淎t this point in time, I want to focus on ending the humanitarian crisis on our streets and moving people into shelters,鈥� Wilson said in a statement. 鈥滻 believe we can work within the current law to end camping in our public spaces. Our intent is not to criminalize homelessness.鈥�
At least one proposal to alter state law will be unveiled early in the 2025 session. Meek, the Democratic senator from Oregon City, has drafted a bill that would simply repeal the changes made under Kotek鈥檚 2021 bill.
Meek was among seven lawmakers tounsuccessfully urging legislative leaders to create a workgroup to study changes to state law in light of the Supreme Court ruling.
鈥淲e believe the law now exceeds the legitimate authority of local government to determine appropriate policies balancing the needs of the homeless and the general public safety,鈥� the letter read in part.
But advocates like Hebb, at the Oregon Law Center, say proposed changes are a solution looking for a problem 鈥� and could ultimately hurt a homeless population that includes seniors, domestic violence survivors and the in the nation.
鈥淲hen we鈥檙e talking about criminal behavior or problematic behavior, there are already full structures in place to address that,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here is a tendency to forget who it is that is experiencing homelessness in Oregon鈥� We鈥檙e trying to change the narrative here and help people understand who it is who鈥檚 actually in this boat.鈥�
