Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch

Filed: 5/1/2013

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1210

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1210 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Bill
5of Rights for the Homeless Act.
 
6    Section 5. Legislative intent. It is the long-standing
7policy of this State that no person should suffer unnecessarily
8from cold or hunger, be deprived of shelter or the basic rights
9incident to shelter, or be subject to unfair discrimination
10based on his or her homeless status. At the present time, many
11persons have been rendered homeless as a result of economic
12hardship, a severe shortage of safe and affordable housing, and
13a shrinking social safety net. It is the intent of this Act to
14lessen the adverse effects and conditions caused by the lack of
15residence or a home.
 

 

 

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1    Section 10. Bill of Rights.
2    (a) No person's rights, privileges, or access to public
3services may be denied or abridged solely because he or she is
4homeless. Such a person shall be granted the same rights and
5privileges as any other citizen of this State. A person
6experiencing homelessness has the following rights:
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;
12        (2) the right to equal treatment by all State and
13    municipal agencies, without discrimination on the basis of
14    housing status;
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;
19        (4) the right to emergency medical care free from
20    discrimination based on his or her housing status;
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;
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
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
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.
11    (b) As used in this Act, "housing status" means the status
12of having or not having a fixed or regular residence, including
13the status of living on the streets, in a shelter, or in a
14temporary residence.
 
15    Section 15. Damages and attorney's fees. In any civil
16action alleging a violation of this Act, the court may award
17appropriate injunctive and declaratory relief, actual damages,
18and reasonable attorney's fees and costs to a prevailing
19plaintiff.
 
20    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
21becoming law.".