Critics slam Indianapolis mayor for veto of Homeless Bill of Rights

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard said Tuesday that the city’s Homeless Bill of Rights — a measure he vetoed Friday — would have accomplished “nothing.”

The City Council passed the proposal earlier this month in an attempt to decriminalize living on the streets. Ballard explained in a statement Tuesday that “the rights enumerated already exist for all citizens.” Reiterating those rights, he said, would do “nothing.”

Proposal 291 explicitly protected the ability of homeless people to move freely and carry out basic functions in public spaces. It also would have outlawed discrimination against homeless people when they attempt to access city services, obtain emergency care, register to vote or maintain the privacy of their personal property.

Homeless advocates said Ballard’s view that the rights already exist fails take into account the discriminatory manner in which laws against sitting, standing, sleeping or eating in public areas are enforced by police.

“This argument that everyone already has these rights so therefore we don’t need to protect them" isn't backed up with the police record or street outreach, said Paul Boden, director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP), on Tuesday.

The bill’s sponsor, Indianapolis City Councilman Leroy Robinson expressed his disappointment on Twitter, writing, “Very sad day for our city with the VETO by @MayorBallard of Proposal #291. NO protections or Bill of Rights for the HOMELESS in Indianapolis.”

Nationwide, advocates for the homeless say that the bills of rights are needed because of a sharp increase in laws targeting sitting, standing, sleeping or eating in public spaces that proliferated in the 1980s after federal funding cuts in affordable housing.

One recent study found that these types of municipal laws rose along with the homeless population spike in the 1980s and again after the 2008 recession.

Advocates have said aggressive policing pushes the homeless out of city centers and away from vital services.

Similar versions of Indianapolis' Homeless Bill of Rights have been signed into law in Rhode Island, Illinois and Connecticut. Lawmakers in Hawaii, Colorado, Oregon and California have introduced their own bill of rights in the current legislative session. 

Boden added that though a Homeless Bill of Rights is necessary to address discrimination and help protect a vulnerable population, the ultimate goal should still be to find housing for those on the streets.

“We have to restore affordable housing funding,” Boden said. “We have documented that massive numbers of laws have been passed since affordable housing was cut. Let’s all work together to restore that funding.”