Tuesday, June 13, 2023
Chair Kennedy, Chair Livingstone, and Members of the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities:
My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I’m the policy director of Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide, member-based grassroots advocacy organization fighting for a more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic Commonwealth.
We urge you to give a favorable report to H.211/S.1112: An Act establishing a bill of rights for individuals experiencing homelessness, filed by Representatives Smitty Pignatelli and Frank Moran and Sen. Becca Rausch.
The solution to homelessness is clear: giving people homes. But too often, municipalities see the solution as criminalization and punishment instead, worsening the underlying problems and forcing individuals into vicious cycles of incarceration and housing instability.
As rents and housing prices skyrocket in Massachusetts, an increasing number of families face housing instability, experiencing short-term or long-term homelessness. According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, 18,471 people in Massachusetts were counted as homeless in January 2019, more than two-thirds of that population consisting of families with children.
We desperately need comprehensive action to address our housing crisis and to secure housing for those currently without it. However, we also need to ensure that misguided and archaic laws do not make it more difficult for individuals to obtain housing.
These bills would rectify this status quo by extending anti-discrimination protections to persons experiencing homelessness, including protections when seeking employment, housing, voter registration, and access to public spaces and places of public accommodation. They would also ensure that individuals experiencing homelessness are not being criminalized for existing in public space, protecting their right to rest, seek shelter from the elements, occupy a legally parked car, pray, eat, and avoid needless harassment in public spaces.
H.211 and S.1112 are essential to ensuring Massachusetts is a state that treats all residents with dignity and respect, and we urge you to give it your support.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Cohn
Policy Director
Progressive Massachusetts
