Support House Bill 1429

HB 1429 is Illinois’ response to the recent US Supreme Court decision in the case of Grants Pass v. Johnson, which determined that people experiencing homelessness can be arrested and fined for sleeping outside even when there are no safe alternatives.  

Please contact your State Representative today to ask your legislator to co-sponsor HB 1429 or thank them for doing so.

This legislation focuses on preventing the further criminalization of homelessness, without restricting established municipal powers. Before and since the U.S. Supreme Court decision, local governments in Illinois have had the power to make people move from public spaces when necessary, using a variety of local ordinances—this legislation does not change that.

The root causes of unsheltered homeless are the shortage of emergency shelter beds and affordable permanent housing. Statewide, we have a shortage of 5,379 emergency shelter beds  and 10,972 permanent supportive housing units. Local governments need to partner on constructive solutions to make sure everyone has a safe, affordable place to call home.

Our legislation has the following provisions:

• Allows enforcement of ordinances, policies or procedures without fines or criminal penalties against people experiencing unsheltered homelessness to maintain public access to a property and/or address serious and imminent risks to public health and safety.
• Ordinances specifically targeting people experiencing unsheltered homelessness for engaging in life-sustaining activities are prohibited, including for home-rule communities.
• Life-sustaining activities include but are not limited to, sleeping, protecting oneself from the elements, eating, and storing such personal property as needed to safely shelter oneself.
• Does not restrict potential criminal penalties for violations of any other ordinances.
• Unless there is an emergency, requires a 7-day written and verbal notice to persons being required to move.
• Before enforcement, there must make a good-faith effort to provide temporary shelter, including referrals for transportation and social services that meet long-term needs.
• Enforcement must comply with the Community Emergency Services and Support Act.

This legislation is being championed by State Representative Kevin Olickal. 

Our chief co-sponsors are House Speaker Chis Welch and Representatives Dagmara Avelar, Lindsey LaPointe and Mary Beth Canty. 

Current co-sponsors include Representatives Lilian Jiménez, Rita Mayfield, Suzanne Ness, Bob Morgan, Will Guzzardi, Kelly Cassidy, Barbara Hernandez, Michelle Mussman, Abdelnasser Rashid, Hoan Huynh, Anne Stava-Murray, Laura Faver Dias, Carol Ammons, Lisa Davis, Nicolle Grasse, Norma Hernandez, Theresa Mah, Edgar González, Jr., Michael Crawford, Nabeela Syed and Diane Blair-Sherlock.

Thank you to all our supporters!