FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Hale Crumley | Policy Manager | hcrumley@prosperityindiana.org 

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – On February 20, Representative Michelle Davis’s (District 58) House Bill 1662 ‘State and Local Policies on Homelessness’ was called down to the House floor for third reading and was passed on by the bill author. Because that day was the third reading deadline, House Bill 1662 is now technically a dead bill. This is cause for cautious celebration amongst the hundreds of Prosperity Indiana members and Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition partners who have consistently and overwhelmingly risen up in opposition to this bill, which would have criminalized the act of being homeless in public.

“When a bill is scheduled for a vote but gets passed on, it’s often because the bill  does not have the support needed to move forward in the legislative process. We believe this language was right to not pass the House of Representatives because it is extreme, illogical, and even counterproductive to solving homelessness,” says Hale Crumley, Policy Manager with Prosperity Indiana. “Prosperity Indiana is extremely grateful to our members and partners for making their thoughts known to their state legislators through testimony, calls, and messages, and we are similarly grateful to the members of the House for listening to Hoosier experts instead of out-of-state thinktanks.”

While House Bill 1662 is no longer in play as a standalone bill, it is likely that the lobbyists fighting for the legislation will work to find another bill that the language can be inserted into via an amendment. This is a relatively common practice at the Indiana General Assembly, hence the saying, “It’s not over until Sine Die,” referring to the final adjournment of the legislative session which will take place in late April. 

Nonetheless, the defeat of House Bill 1662 in the House is a meaningful victory for the advocates who worked closely on it. Dr. Chelsea Haring-Cozzi, Executive Director of the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention adds, “Today was an important step in our collective work to focus on real solutions to unsheltered homelessness. We are so proud of how the community showed up to advocate for our neighbors experiencing homelessness and demanded we do better. We stand together with the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition and stand firm in our belief and in the evidence that housing and services is how we end homelessness. Fining and jailing vulnerable people for systemic failures is never the solution.”

The House and the Senate will be taking the week of February 24 – 28 off to rest, recuperate, and reassess where things lay now that an important bill deadline has passed. During this time, many policymakers will return to their home districts across the state where practitioners and citizens will have the chance  to continue to apply pressure so that the homelessness criminalization legislative language stays dead. Check here to find nearby opportunities to engage with your legislators.

“No matter where you are in Indiana, House Bill 1662 would have affected your community and the most vulnerable people in it. The official bill may be dead for now, but we all need to remain alert until the end of the legislative session,” summarizes Jennifer Layton, President and CEO of Lafayette Transitional Housing Center.

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About Prosperity Indiana

The Indiana Association for Community Economic Development d/b/a Prosperity Indiana builds a better future for our communities by providing advocacy, leveraging resources, and engaging an empowered network of members to create inclusive opportunities that build assets and improve lives. Since its founding in 1986, Prosperity Indiana’s network has grown to nearly 200 organizations, representing thousands of practitioners statewide from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

About the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition

The Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition (HHNC) was formed by members of Indiana’s housing security advocacy community in April 2020 to support advocacy and education related to housing and homelessness prevention. HHNC convenes partners from across Indiana to advocate for housing stability & affordability, tenant protections, and housing equity.