A new bill in Oklahoma proposes banning all but two of the state’s cities and towns from providing homeless shelters or conducting homeless outreach. It’s the latest in a series of state bills and policies that govern where or how unhoused people can live.
The new bill, SB 484, says, “No municipality of this state with a population less than three hundred thousand (300,000) according to the most recent Federal Decennial Census shall provide programs or services to homeless persons including, but not limited to, owning or leasing land for the purpose of building or maintaining a homeless shelter.”
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Only two cities in the state, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, have at least 300,000 people.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill that took effect last November restricting camping on unauthorized state land. It also restricted camping under bridges or alongside roads and highways.
The city of Shawnee, meanwhile, created a permitting process for feeding unhoused people and banned people from sleeping outdoors in its downtown area.
And Norman, home to the University of Oklahoma, has debated the future of an emergency homeless shelter near its downtown.
SB 484’s sponsor, Republican State Sen. Lisa Standridge, told local newspaper The Norman Transcript she would amend the bill. She said it had “unintended consequences” for shelters housing victims of domestic violence.
Meghan Mueller, CEO of the Oklahoma housing advocacy nonprofit the Homeless Alliance, told local TV station KFOR, “Homeless response systems in large cities are already strained beyond capacity. When you limit the ability of communities to respond to the needs of their own residents, no one wins.”
