Texas lawmaker abruptly spiked his bill to punish cities that don’t deal with homeless encampments

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A proposal in the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature to enhance a statewide ban on homeless encampments met a spectacular demise late Monday when the bill’s sponsor effectively ended debate on the bill.

After several attempts by Democrats to weaken the bill and challenge its legitimacy through other procedural tactics, state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, asked for debate on the bill to end and resume on June 3, one day after the session ends.

Senate Bill 241, which had already passed the state Senate, would have forced Texas cities and counties to beef up their enforcement of a statewide ban on homeless encampments. Critics had argued the legislation won’t help reduce homelessness.

Capriglione, who carried the proposal in the House, told The Texas Tribune he withdrew the bill to avoid a protracted procedural process that would have ultimately killed it. Capriglione, who authored the state’s ban on homeless encampments, said he plans to work on similar legislation when the Texas Legislature convenes again in two years.

State lawmakers have shown exasperation with visible homelessness four years after Abbott signed the state’s ban on homeless encampments into law.

“Whether it's in my area, in Fort Worth, or in Dallas, or here we're in Austin, everybody knows that these camping restrictions on homeless camping restrictions have not been enforced,” Capriglione said.

The number of unhoused Texans has grown in recent years as the state’s housing costs have ballooned. Almost 28,000 Texans experienced homelessness last year, federal estimates show — about 8% more than before the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 12,000 people experienced unsheltered homelessness, meaning they slept outdoors, in their cars or in other places where people aren’t supposed to live.

The bill from state Sen. Pete Flores, a Pleasanton Republican, would require cities and counties to allow residents to make formal complaints if they suspect a violation of the camping ban. The Texas attorney general could declare that city or county a “violating local entity” if local officials don’t resolve that complaint within 90 days. The state could then step in to clear encampments and recoup the costs from that city or county’s sales taxes.

House lawmakers made some tweaks to the bill Monday, requiring the attorney general’s office to give cities and counties a 45-day heads-up that they’re at risk of becoming a “violating local entity.” They shot down other amendments, like a Democratic proposal to make it clear that cities and counties could resolve complaints about homeless encampments by finding ways to rehouse people camping there.

Texas lawmakers enacted the statewide camping ban after Austin officials in 2019 relaxed restrictions on public encampments. The number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness grew in following years, and Austin voters restored the city’s camping ban through a public referendum. Shortly after, state lawmakers enacted the statewide camping ban — making sleeping outside or camping on public property a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $500 fine.

Austin has issued more than 1,300 citations since 2021 for violations of the camping ban and related violations, according to city data. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld bans on homeless encampments last year.

Homeless service providers and advocates have long argued that ticketing people experiencing homelessness only makes it harder for them to get back on their feet. Compelling local governments to do so, some have worried, might sap resources from strategies that focus on finding new housing for people experiencing street homelessness. They say those initiatives have helped Houston and Dallas reduce unsheltered homelessness by more than 25% since before the pandemic.

Texas lawmakers also advanced legislation requiring cities to give neighbors a heads-up if it wants to convert a property to house homeless people.

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