Hello, PPC Membership! We have reached the end of an exciting forty-five-day legislative session. This session has been full of many inspiring, emotional, and growing moments. You have been integral in realigning our focus to what is truly important. This guidance has helped this session to be very successful, regardless of our preferred bills passing or not. Thank you for your support and engagement. Our goals for this session were to advocate for legislation that relates to homelessness, ORG funding, mental health care issues, and all issues that relate to our mission statement. With these goals in mind, we followed twelve bills this session that set out to address these issues. There were highs and lows and a couple things didn’t happen like we wanted them to, but this session was definitely a success in so many ways, both for the Coalition and for the community we are a part of. Every bill was successful in either codifying change, or starting an important conversation. They are as follows:
HB 0007 - Social Services Budget (approved!)
In the many meetings with the Social Services Appropriations Subcommittee, legislators discussed the various needs for funding homeless services. Legislators were pushing transparency and accountability among service providers and DWS.HB 0032S03 - Crisis Service Amendments (passed!)
HB 32 has the support of law enforcement, health providers, and families affected by addiction. The bill was almost fully funded which will allow for many crisis centers to be built. Once these centers are built, we will be able to hit homelessness at the root of the problem and better treat mental health disorders.HB 0059 - Tax Credit for Alternative Fuel Heavy-Duty Vehicles (passed!)
HB 59 is important for addressing the environmental problems that affect homelessness. This bill is a great step in combating poor air-quality and helping enable better activities of daily living for the homeless.HB 0083S01 - Expungement Amendments (passed!)
HB 83 is a positive step in designing infrastructure to protect victims of domestic abuse. The bill requires notification of a domestic abuse victim if the expungement of charges is requested. This infrastructure will help prevent additional issues of death, and homelessness by protecting vulnerable women and children.HB 0219 - Mental Health Amendments (passed!)
HB 219 provides reimbursement of counties for inpatient mental health services under Medicaid. This bill is intended to target people who fall between the cracks of Medicaid and private insurance. With the implementation of this bill people who are at-risk for homelessness can receive trauma-informed care.HB 0229S02 - Opportunity Zone Enhancements (did not pass)
This bill failed to pass the House of Representatives. HB 229 was important for more affordable housing. It aligned the national agenda of Opportunity Zone tax-credits with state goals to provide access to housing for low-income individuals. This bill shows that when legislators are drafting bills they are focusing on affordable and accessible housing without intervention from groups like the PPC.HB 0394S04 - Homeless and Transitional Housing Program (did not pass)
This controversial “Homeless Czar” bill failed to pass the Senate in the last few minutes of the session. HB 394 had committed support from the PPC, but there was strong opposition from multiple stakeholders that made gutting the bill necessary. Despite the conflict (and the fact that it still didn’t pass), this bill made many important conversations necessary. DWS, service providers, and the SHCC understood that people and groups such as the PPC are watching, and will fight for accountability. In some of our final meetings, it was revealed that all shareholders are changing their bureaucratic structuring to address our concerns. So even though HB 394 didn’t pass, this bill is still launching everyone in the right direction.HB 0401 - Homeless Resource Center Drug-Free Zone (did not pass)
This bill failed to pass the House due to the inability to lift it from rules. The conversations around this bill helped address the structural concerns of the service centers. It demonstrated that the priority for homeless services is safe, trauma-informed care. The bill would have criminalized illicit drug use in and around service centers. Legislators want to address the findings of the audits with legislation that is focused on prevention instead of clean-up.HB 0440S01 - Homeless Services Funding Amendments (passed!)
HB 440 ensures that the sale of the land at Rio Grande goes to service providers for loan repayment. This bill ensures that the service providers’ debt will be addressed, and allows for social development in the Rio Grande neighborhood.SB 0039S04 - Affordable Housing Amendments (passed!)
The original version asked for $15 million of ongoing funding and $20 million of one-time funding. With the tight nature of this session, the bill was cut to $10 million of one-time funding. Trauma-informed care with the combination of affordable housing is the next logical step. This bill made it very clear about what direction homeless services should be going, and that many stakeholders (including the PPC) will fight for this to happen.SB 0165 - Emergency Response Plan for Homelessness (passed!)
SB 165 requires that emergency plans for the homeless are put in place. This bill is evidence that more accountability is needed for service providers and agencies. Steps like this make the system more amenable to changes in organization and leadership (see HB 394 above). Most importantly, it reminds the people who are in the homeless service system, that there are real people at the end of these services.SB 00244S02 - Homeless Services and Sharing Amendments (passed!)
SB 244 directly addresses the data portion of the audit. The bill designates an HMIS coordinator that will oversee all aspects of data collection. This bill is very similar to the HB 394 (of “homeless czar” infamy) and shows that both the House and Senate are concerned about the current system of homeless services. We are making very important moves towards the right solution regarding leadership.
My first session has been one for the books! It has been one of the best learning experiences not only for my political science degree but also for my life. All the work we did ultimately boiled down to how well-maintained our relationships are. May this be a good reminder to reach out to your community and act as champions for each other.
As always, please reach out if there are any questions about the session or the PPC. You can reach us at info@pioneerpark.co as well as @pioneerparkco on Instagram. Remember, this is only the beginning of our work in 2020! Thank you for your support and your engagement.
Caroline DeLannoy