League officers urge partnership, not preemption, on public-safety bills tied to homelessness

The Utah League of Cities and Towns’ Legislative Policy Committee on Feb. 18 debated several bills that tie homelessness policy to public‑safety oversight and funding, concluding staff will recommend opposition to House Bill 465 as drafted and asking staff to pursue partnership alternatives.

League staff described HB 465 as written to require a city of the first class that receives homelessness mitigation funds to enter an agreement with the Department of Public Safety (DPS) with two stated outcomes: “to increase public safety, and the other is to ensure the proper function of city police department with generally accepted standards,” language staff read from the bill. The draft also conditions continuation of gas tax and homelessness mitigation payments on executing that agreement; it would authorize DPS to deploy a rapid‑response team to any city of the first class for events defined in the bill as illegal camping or large‑scale illegal drug distribution.

Committee members said the bill primarily targets Salt Lake City, which…