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House committee weighs bill to limit criminalization of survival activities on public property
Summary
House Bill 2,489 would bar local governments from enforcing laws that criminalize life‑sustaining activities on public property unless adequate alternative shelter space was available at the time and place of enforcement; advocates said the measure prevents harmful displacement while police and cities warned the statutory standard is operationally infeasible as written.
The House Housing Committee on Jan. 20 heard extensive testimony for and against House Bill 2,489, a proposal that would restrict enforcement of local laws against camping, sitting, lying or sleeping on public property when no adequate alternative shelter is available.
"The system should not punish someone for survival conduct unless there is a real alternative available," Jasmine Clark of the ACLU of Washington told the committee, summarizing the organization's mapping project that shows a fragmented patchwork of anti‑camping ordinances across the state and enforcement practices that often displace people without housing them.
Staff described the bill as providing a…
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