100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB5508

 

Introduced 2/16/2018, by Rep. La Shawn K. Ford

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
775 ILCS 45/10

    Amends the Bill of Rights for the Homeless Act. Provides that if a unit of local government determines that a person experiencing homelessness is living in a public space and requires that person to vacate the public space, the unit of local government shall: (i) provide a 48-hour notice to vacate to that person; (ii) offer to call a paramedic for medical treatment; (iii) offer to provide transportation to the nearest homeless shelter; and (iv) allow the person to collect all personal property and offer bags to transport the personal property.


LRB100 16781 LNS 31921 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB5508LRB100 16781 LNS 31921 b

1    AN ACT concerning human rights.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Bill of Rights for the Homeless Act is
5amended by changing Section 10 as follows:
 
6    (775 ILCS 45/10)
7    Sec. 10. Bill of Rights.
8    (a) No person's rights, privileges, or access to public
9services may be denied or abridged solely because he or she is
10homeless. Such a person shall be granted the same rights and
11privileges as any other citizen of this State. A person
12experiencing homelessness has the following rights:
13        (1) the right to use and move freely in public spaces,
14    including but not limited to public sidewalks, public
15    parks, public transportation, and public buildings, in the
16    same manner as any other person and without discrimination
17    on the basis of his or her housing status;
18        (2) the right to equal treatment by all State and
19    municipal agencies, without discrimination on the basis of
20    housing status;
21        (3) the right not to face discrimination while
22    maintaining employment due to his or her lack of permanent
23    mailing address, or his or her mailing address being that

 

 

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1    of a shelter or social service provider;
2        (4) the right to emergency medical care free from
3    discrimination based on his or her housing status;
4        (5) the right to vote, register to vote, and receive
5    documentation necessary to prove identity for voting
6    without discrimination due to his or her housing status;
7        (6) the right to protection from disclosure of his or
8    her records and information provided to homeless shelters
9    and service providers to State, municipal, and private
10    entities without appropriate legal authority; and the
11    right to confidentiality of personal records and
12    information in accordance with all limitations on
13    disclosure established by the federal Homeless Management
14    Information Systems, the federal Health Insurance
15    Portability and Accountability Act, and the federal
16    Violence Against Women Act; and
17        (7) the right to a reasonable expectation of privacy in
18    his or her personal property to the same extent as personal
19    property in a permanent residence.
20    (b) As used in this Act, "housing status" means the status
21of having or not having a fixed or regular residence, including
22the status of living on the streets, in a shelter, or in a
23temporary residence.
24    (c) If a unit of local government determines that a person
25experiencing homelessness is living in a public space or using
26a public space in a manner inconsistent with paragraph (1) of

 

 

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1subsection (a) and requires that person to vacate the public
2space, the unit of local government shall:
3        (1) provide a 48-hour notice to that person, both oral
4    and written and in a language other than English when
5    appropriate, to vacate the public space and remove all
6    personal belongings;
7        (2) offer to call for a paramedic for medical treatment
8    for that person, if necessary;
9        (3) offer to provide transportation for that person to
10    the nearest homeless shelter; and
11        (4) allow that person to collect all personal property
12    and offer bags to transport the personal property.
13    No unit of local government shall dispose of that person's
14personal belongings in any manner.
15(Source: P.A. 98-516, eff. 8-22-13.)