In 2024 the US Supreme Court okayed the use of criminal penalties for homelessness. And Thursday morning, an effort to block Virginia localities from doing so was killed in a House of Delegates subcommittee.
According to a 2024 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court found, “The enforcement of generally applicable laws regulating camping on public property does not constitute ‘cruel and unusual punishment,” and according to the Virginia Housing Alliance, more than a dozen localities across Virginia currently criminalize loitering or homeless-adjacent activity in the wake of that decision.
Kashish Pillai is with the progressive group New Virginia Majority.
“Currently Virginia does not have enough beds to meet the needs of more than 7 thousand individuals state-wide," Pillai told a House subcommittee Thursday. "Yet current law allows people to be penalized for basic survival activities when they have no place else to go.”
Fredericksburg Delegate Joshua Cole tried to ban such local ordinances last year, the bill was sent to the Housing commission, a group that meets between sessions to craft bills. And so, Cole came back with the bill again this year but…
“There’s a motion with a second to continue this bill to 2027 with a very serious letter to the Housing Commission”, said Virginia Beach Delegate Alex Askew sending the bill back to the Housing commission, killing it for the year.
The move comes as the commission in question failed to come to a consensus on how a final bill should look.
Sheila Herlihy-Hennessee is with the Virginia Interfaith Center. Her group advocated for the law change and was disappointed by the committee's delay of the effort, but she is staying optimistic.
“The Housing Commission does have a new leadership, a new director so it is hopeful we might see different results”, Herlihy-Hennessee told Radio IQ.
There are no meetings for the Housing commission on the calendar yet, but Delegate Cole said he hopes to bring the bill back with their support in 2027.
