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1    AN ACT in relation to homeless persons.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
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.
 
16    Section 10. Bill of Rights.
17    (a) No person's rights, privileges, or access to public
18services may be denied or abridged solely because he or she is
19homeless. Such a person shall be granted the same rights and
20privileges as any other citizen of this State. A person
21experiencing homelessness has the following rights:
22        (1) the right to use and move freely in public spaces,

 

 

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1    including but not limited to public sidewalks, public
2    parks, public transportation, and public buildings, in the
3    same manner as any other person and without discrimination
4    on the basis of his or her housing status;
5        (2) the right to equal treatment by all State and
6    municipal agencies, without discrimination on the basis of
7    housing status;
8        (3) the right not to face discrimination while
9    maintaining employment due to his or her lack of permanent
10    mailing address, or his or her mailing address being that
11    of a shelter or social service provider;
12        (4) the right to emergency medical care free from
13    discrimination based on his or her housing status;
14        (5) the right to vote, register to vote, and receive
15    documentation necessary to prove identity for voting
16    without discrimination due to his or her housing status;
17        (6) the right to protection from disclosure of his or
18    her records and information provided to homeless shelters
19    and service providers to State, municipal, and private
20    entities without appropriate legal authority; and the
21    right to confidentiality of personal records and
22    information in accordance with all limitations on
23    disclosure established by the federal Homeless Management
24    Information Systems, the federal Health Insurance
25    Portability and Accountability Act, and the federal
26    Violence Against Women Act; and

 

 

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1        (7) the right to a reasonable expectation of privacy in
2    his or her personal property to the same extent as personal
3    property in a permanent residence.
4    (b) As used in this Act, "housing status" means the status
5of having or not having a fixed or regular residence, including
6the status of living on the streets, in a shelter, or in a
7temporary residence.
 
8    Section 15. Damages and attorney's fees. In any civil
9action alleging a violation of this Act, the court may award
10appropriate injunctive and declaratory relief, actual damages,
11and reasonable attorney's fees and costs to a prevailing
12plaintiff.
 
13    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
14becoming law.