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Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch
Filed: 5/1/2013
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1 | | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1210
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2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1210 by replacing |
3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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4 | | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Bill |
5 | | of
Rights for the Homeless Act.
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6 | | Section 5. Legislative intent. It is the long-standing |
7 | | policy of
this
State that no person should suffer unnecessarily |
8 | | from cold or
hunger, be
deprived of shelter or the basic rights |
9 | | incident to shelter, or be subject to unfair discrimination |
10 | | based on his or her homeless status.
At the present time, many |
11 | | persons have been rendered homeless as
a result
of economic |
12 | | hardship, a severe shortage of safe and affordable housing,
and
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13 | | a shrinking social safety net. It is
the intent of this
Act to |
14 | | lessen the adverse effects and conditions caused by the lack of
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15 | | residence or a home.
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1 | | Section 10. Bill of
Rights. |
2 | | (a) No person's rights, privileges, or access to
public |
3 | | services may be denied or abridged solely because he or she is
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4 | | homeless. Such a person shall be granted the same rights and |
5 | | privileges as
any
other citizen of this State. A person |
6 | | experiencing homelessness has the following rights:
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7 | | (1) the right to use and move freely in public spaces, |
8 | | including but not limited to
public sidewalks, public |
9 | | parks, public transportation, and public buildings, in the |
10 | | same manner as
any other person and without discrimination |
11 | | on the basis of his or her housing status;
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12 | | (2) the right to equal treatment by all State and |
13 | | municipal agencies, without
discrimination on the basis of |
14 | | housing status;
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15 | | (3) the right not to face discrimination while |
16 | | maintaining employment due
to his or her lack of permanent |
17 | | mailing address, or his or her mailing address being that |
18 | | of a
shelter or social service provider;
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19 | | (4) the right to emergency medical care free from |
20 | | discrimination based on his or her
housing status;
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21 | | (5) the right to vote, register to vote, and receive |
22 | | documentation necessary to prove
identity for voting |
23 | | without discrimination due to his or her housing status;
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24 | | (6) the right to protection from disclosure of his or |
25 | | her records and information
provided to homeless shelters |
26 | | and service providers to State, municipal, and private |
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1 | | entities
without appropriate legal authority; and the |
2 | | right to confidentiality of personal records and
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3 | | information in accordance with all limitations on |
4 | | disclosure established by the federal Homeless
Management |
5 | | Information Systems, the federal Health Insurance |
6 | | Portability and Accountability
Act, and the federal |
7 | | Violence Against Women Act; and
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8 | | (7) the right to a reasonable expectation of privacy in |
9 | | his or her personal property to
the same extent as personal |
10 | | property in a permanent residence.
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11 | | (b)
As used in this Act, "housing status" means the status |
12 | | of
having or not having a fixed or regular residence, including
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13 | | the status of living on the streets, in a shelter, or in a
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14 | | temporary residence.
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15 | | Section 15. Damages and attorney's fees. In any civil |
16 | | action alleging a violation of this
Act, the court may award |
17 | | appropriate injunctive and declaratory relief, actual damages, |
18 | | and
reasonable attorney's fees and costs to a prevailing |
19 | | plaintiff.
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20 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
21 | | becoming law.".
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