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The California Legislature approved a bill Wednesday that supporters say protects residents\u2019 rights to give food or other support to unhoused people without fear of breaking the law. <\/p>\n
Senate Bill 634, authored by state Sen. Sasha Ren\u00e9e P\u00e9rez, prohibits cities from enacting or enforcing laws that stop people from assisting unhoused residents with basic survival. <\/p>\n
That includes providing food, water, bedding, shelter, medical help and legal services. The bill was co-sponsored by the Inner City Law Center, a legal services nonprofit based in L.A.’s Skid Row.<\/p>\n
Local advocates for the unhoused say the new law will protect service providers and good Samaritans.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aYou can\u2019t say that it’s a crime to give somebody a bottle of water or food or to provide them with legal services or medical services just because they don’t have a home,\u201d said Ishvaku Vashishtha, an Inner City Law legal fellow. \u201cThat is the fundamental premise of this bill.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why this bill?<\/p>\n
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year in Grants Pass v. Johnson that cities can enforce camping bans even when homeless shelter space is unavailable. <\/p>\n
After that ruling, dozens of California cities passed new laws banning homeless encampments \u2014 or strengthened their existing anti-camping laws. <\/p>\n
California lawmakers pass bill protecting residents\u2019 right to give food, water to unhoused people<\/p>\n
In February, the city of Fremont in Northern California voted to criminalize<\/a> “aiding and abetting” homeless encampments. The city removed that language from its camping ban in March, after public backlash. <\/p>\n But it was a warning sign to homeless-rights advocates. <\/p>\n \u201c\u200aI think this just highlighted the need for some degree of intervention and for drawing a line in the sand and saying enough is enough,\u201d said Vashishtha, who worked on SB 634.<\/p>\n Dozens of cities around the country have bans on food sharing through new restrictions linked to public property or food safety, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness<\/a>. And some local leaders have been critical of programs that feed unhoused people in public places, arguing that they enable street homelessness.<\/p>\n In 2021, the city of Santa Ana in Orange County stopped nonprofit Micah\u2019s Way from running a program to feed unhoused people by refusing to grant the necessary permits. <\/p>\n The organization filed a legal complaint against <\/a>Santa Ana, arguing that feeding the hungry is protected religious activity under federal law. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a statement supporting<\/a> Micah\u2019s Way\u2019s argument.<\/p>\n In 2018, the city of El Cajon in San Diego County cited a dozen people<\/a> for feeding unhoused people in a public park during a hepatitis A outbreak.<\/p>\n What\u2019s next?<\/p>\n The new law would not override any local ordinances, including public health laws. <\/p>\n