Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HB1429

LRB104 06164 JRC 16198 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB1429

Introduced 1/28/2025, by Rep. Kevin John Olickal

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

775 ILCS 45/10

Amends the Bill of Rights for the Homeless Act. Prohibits the State or a unit of local government from creating or enforcing policies or ordinances imposing fines or criminal penalties against people experiencing unsheltered homelessness for occupying or engaging in life-sustaining activities on public property. Provides exceptions to maintain access to property or address risks to public health and safety. Creates a necessity defense for charges alleging violation of laws criminalizing life-sustaining activities while the individual was experiencing unsheltered homelessness. Defines terms. Limits the exercise of concurrent home rule powers.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning human rights.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Bill of Rights for the Homeless Act is amended by changing Section 10 as follows:

(775 ILCS 45/10)

Sec. 10. Bill of Rights.

(a) No person's rights, privileges, or access to public services may be denied or abridged solely because he or she is homeless. Such a person shall be granted the same rights and privileges as any other citizen of this State. A person experiencing homelessness has the following rights:

(1) the right to use and move freely in public spaces, including but not limited to public sidewalks, public parks, public transportation, and public buildings, in the same manner as any other person and without discrimination on the basis of his or her housing status;

(2) the right to equal treatment by all State and municipal agencies, without discrimination on the basis of housing status;

(3) the right not to face discrimination while maintaining employment due to his or her lack of permanent mailing address, or his or her mailing address being that of a shelter or social service provider;

(4) the right to emergency medical care free from discrimination based on his or her housing status;

(5) the right to vote, register to vote, and receive documentation necessary to prove identity for voting without discrimination due to his or her housing status;

(6) the right to protection from disclosure of his or her records and information provided to homeless shelters and service providers to State, municipal, and private entities without appropriate legal authority; and the right to confidentiality of personal records and information in accordance with all limitations on disclosure established by the federal Homeless Management Information Systems, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and the federal Violence Against Women Act; and

(7) the right to a reasonable expectation of privacy in his or her personal property to the same extent as personal property in a permanent residence.

(b) As used in this Act: ,

"Enforcing entity" means the State or a unit of local government as well as their representatives.

"Housing housing status" means the status of having or not having a fixed or regular residence, including the status of living on the streets, in a shelter, or in a temporary residence.

"Life-sustaining activities" includes, but are not limited to, moving, resting, sitting, standing, lying down, sleeping, protecting oneself from the elements, eating, drinking, and storing such personal property as needed to shelter oneself.

"Unsheltered homelessness" means the status of not having a fixed or regular residence, including the status of living on the streets because of a lack of access to a legally operated indoor shelter or other temporary residence that is appropriate and safe.

"Notice" in this instance is met when:

Written notice: Notification by the enforcing entity in a conspicuous location 7 days before enforcement at the site of removal, including, but not limited to, at the entrance of the area or near the site and if possible on the belongings of the unsheltered person.

Verbal notice shall be provided if the enforcing entity's representatives and persons subject to enforcement are present at a location simultaneously during the 7-day time period.

(c) Neither the State or any unit of local government may establish or enforce ordinances or policies that include fines or criminal penalties against people experiencing unsheltered homelessness for occupying or engaging in life-sustaining activities on public property.

(d) Subject to other provisions of this Act, the State or a unit of local government may enforce ordinances, policies, or procedures without fines or criminal penalties against people experiencing unsheltered homelessness to maintain public access to a property or address serious and imminent risks to public health and safety.

(e) Unless the enforcing entity determines that there is an emergency related to public access to a property or public health and safety, before enforcing any such ordinances, policies and procedures, the enforcing entity shall provide notice, as defined under this Section, to persons subject to the enforcement. All enforcement under this Section shall comply with the Community Emergency Services and Support Act and other sections of this Act. The enforcing entity shall make, without limitation, a good faith effort to provide or refer persons subject to enforcement with transportation, social services, and other resources to remedy their immediate shelter and long-term housing needs.

(f) In determining whether an actual emergency exists, the enforcing entity shall declare an emergency only when there is an imminent risk to individuals or community members that can only be mitigated by requiring unsheltered individuals to move themselves or their belongings. In emergencies, as much notice as is practicable shall be provided. The enforcing entity shall make, without limitation, a good faith effort to also provide or refer persons subject to enforcement with transportation, social services, and other resources to remedy their immediate shelter and long-term housing needs.

(g) It is an affirmative defense to a charge of violating a statute or ordinance criminalizing one or more life-sustaining activities that the individual was experiencing unsheltered homelessness. It shall be the responsibility of the court to notify the charged individual of the availability of this defense and how to raise it. Once the defense is raised, there is a rebuttable presumption that the person was experiencing unsheltered homelessness and the burden of proving otherwise is on the prosecution.

(h) A home rule unit may not enact rules or regulations that are inconsistent with this Section. This amendatory Act is a limitation under subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution on the concurrent exercise by home rule units of powers and functions exercised by the State.

(Source: P.A. 98-516, eff. 8-22-13.)