House lawmakers cut public begging, then pass bill
By Brooke Burns
Last month House lawmakers passed a bill aimed at banning discrimination toward homeless people — but not before they gutted the bulk of it.
The Committee on General and Housing amended H.132 by cutting a 10-page chunk that would give Vermonters a “Homeless Bill of Rights.”
The rights would’ve awarded broad protections to homeless people, like the right to access public spaces, equal treatment by state and municipal agencies, the right to vote and the right to ask for money, food or other donations in public — unless the municipality already had a law banning panhandling. It guaranteed future laws cannot unfairly affect people experiencing homelessness.
Instead, lawmakers simply moved to add housing status to a list of identities that are already protected against discrimination. They made the change after state officials called the bill’s original language vague and lacking in precedent.
State law prevents landlords, employers and owners of public accommodations — a broad term for places like restaurants, libraries and retail stores — from discriminating against people based on their race, sex, disability status and more.
The bill, which passed out of the House on March 23, would add housing status to the list. That would mean Vermonters can’t be turned away from a public place, state aid, a job or a rental for being homeless.
Chief Ron Hoague, president of the Vermont Association of Chiefs of Police, told lawmakers on Feb. 1 that the bill of rights’ definitions of public place and harmless activity would’ve been too loose to enforce.
“We’re most often the folks that have to actually physically deal with the issues that come up because of homelessness,” Hoague said, referring to police officers. “We don’t want ambiguity, in their mind, as to what they can and cannot do when it comes to enforcing the law or enforcing ordinances, and that’s how mistakes could be made — when they’re not confident in what they’re doing and what they’re enforcing.”
The committee also heard from Julio Thompson, director of the civil rights unit of the Vermont Office of the Attorney General, on Jan. 17. Thompson cited a lack of precedent in his reasoning.
“As far as we know, we don’t know of another state that’s enacted a bill of rights where the state Fair Employment Practice Agency enforces it,” Thompson said. “And all that means is just that. We don’t have a sister agency or a federal agency that we know that we can talk to.”
Last year Vermont had the second-highest percentage of people experiencing homelessness in the country, according to a VTDigger article from Dec. 2023.
Thompson said his office found many people with insecure housing already fit within one or more of the existing protected classes, so the bill might not change much.
“It probably wouldn’t mark a dramatic rise in the amount of cases we get,” Thompson said. “But I can’t say that for sure.”
H.132 passed out of the House and is in the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs.
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