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Advocates press committee to bar penalties for life‑sustaining acts by people experiencing homelessness; municipalities urge coordinated resources
Summary
A broad coalition of homelessness advocates, mayors and people with lived experience urged lawmakers to pass HB 7033, prohibiting municipalities from imposing penalties on people performing life‑sustaining activities when no safe alternative exists.
Advocates, municipal leaders and people with lived experience urged the Housing Committee to approve a bill banning penalties for life‑sustaining activities by people experiencing homelessness (HB 7033). Supporters argued criminalization compounds harm: testimony from advocates and people with lived experience described fines, arrests and property seizures that prevented individuals from accessing shelter or housing later. Witnesses — including Sarah Fox of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, mayors of Hamden and New Haven, and community organizers from UACT and tenant unions — said the state should avoid criminal penalties where people have no alternative place to sleep, rest or access hygiene facilities. Several municipal officials, including Mayor Justin Elicker (New Haven) and Mayor Lauren Garrett (Hamden), said they do not criminalize homelessness in practice but urged the Legislature to ensure the bill does not unintentionally create unsafe encampments or limit municipalities’ ability to manage public safety around transit stations and critical infrastructure. They asked the committee to define the protected activities narrowly and to include exemptions for matters such as public‑safety risks or locations that have their own codes of conduct (e.g., indoor transit facilities). Many witnesses asked that a prohibition on penalties be paired with increased investments in shelter beds, eviction prevention and diversion services. Housing advocates pressed for ongoing funding for prevention, case management and shelter capacity, arguing that legal protections without services would not end homelessness. Committee takeaway: Strong sympathy for the principle of not criminalizing survival behaviors, combined with requests that the bill clarify the protected activities (the committee is considering specific language that limits protections to "activities of daily living") and contain guardrails for public safety and shelter alternatives.
