Several bills advancing through the Texas legislature will, if enacted, escalate the state’s war on unhoused people. Among the measures being pushed forward, homelessness service providers would be banned from operating anywhere in the vicinity of schools, and cities would be punished if they don’t take more aggressive actions against encampments.
On April 8, the Texas Senate passed SB 241, in 24-6 vote. The bill states that no city may prevent state enforcement against “public camping.” Cities would be banned from allowing unhoused people to camp outside unless the state government specifically designates an area for them to do so.
Cities would additionally have to report annually to the state attorney general how many complaints against encampments they have received, and what actions they took to address them. If anyone makes a complaint to a city about an encampment, the city would have to resolve it within 90 days. Failure to do so would mean the attorney general could find the city in violation of state law, and the state could force the city to pay fines to cover the cost of removing encampments. The state comptroller could also withhold tax money to that city.
The law would also require that unhoused individuals who are stopped by police be given the right to remove their personal belongings from a site, or have them stored until they can retrieve them.
It would create so-called “school safety zones,” within which homelessness service providers are prohibited from operating.
Another bill, SB 2623, was filed in March and passed the Senate by a 30-1 vote on April 29. If it becomes law, it will create so-called “school safety zones,” within which homelessness service providers are prohibited from operating. Providers would be barred from offering services within 1,500 feet of a public school property line—more than four football fields in length.
This wouldn’t just apply to shelters. The bill defines a provider as anyone offering health care, mental health care, food, drug treatment, job training or financial assistance to unhoused people. City and county-run facilities could lose tax dollars if they don’t move, and the state could impose financial penalties on other providers. Lawmakers initially considered making the zones even bigger, at 1.5 miles away from schools, but compromised after hearing testimony from providers that it would endanger their programs.
Both of these bills have now been received by the House, which would be required to pass them before they can reach the governor.
Eric Samuels, CEO of the Texas Homeless Network, said that his organization has been resisting such legislation for years. He has personally testified to the legislature against some of these measures. But they seem to haved gained momentum since the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also highlighted other bills his organization is fighting—like SB 399, which would require audits of state homelessness services, and SB 617, which would give communities more opportunities to stop cities purchasing properties to build shelters or housing.
“It does nothing to alleviate homelessness; all it does is push people to the margins.”
Regarding the encampments bill, Samuels said that until now, homelessness service providers have often been able to work with police in finding ways to address encampments without resorting to arrests or citations. But that could be about to change.
“That will just push people further out of sight when they have medical or other needs,” Samuels told Filter of the prospective crackdown. “It does nothing to alleviate homelessness; all it does is push them to the margins.”
Meanwhile, the “school safety zone” bill, even with the zones reduced in size, is still expected to be a death sentence for many programs. Several providers told the Fort Worth Report that they would risk closure if it becomes law. The Presbyterian Night Shelter and Union Gospel Mission in Fort Worth would both fall under the ban, with the night shelter being forced to put 1,000 people out onto the streets. Another nonprofit, the Transition Resource Action Center, with two centers in Fort Worth serving 1,200 youth aging out of foster care, would also be gravely affected.
Samuels explained that some providers—like Haven for Hope in San Antonio—have successfully petitioned lawmakers to give them special exemptions. But that has only been happening on a case-by-case basis, leading to damaging uncertainty.
“Through this legislative process, it’s just if you have good representation, if they want to make sure your program is exempt, it will be,” he said. “If it becomes law, it’s not clear how it will be determined whether or not an agency can operate a certain number of feet from a school—and it’s not clear whether the proposed committee will make these decisions.”
Homelessness remains a persistent crisis in Texas. According to data from the Texas Homeless Network, the state’s unhoused population has fluctuated wildly over the past several years but rose from over 54,000 people counted in 2018 to over 61,000 in 2023. Samuels noted a caveat that the counts for 2021 and 2022 were incomplete due to pandemic restrictions, so it will be more accurate to judge based on more recent years.
Nonetheless, there are deeply concerning trends within the numbers. The proportion of people who are continuously unhoused over a long period is increasing. Racial disparities are also evident: The number of Black unhoused individuals increased by 10.6 percent from 2022-2023, compared to a 6.4-percent for white people. In terms of age, in 2023, 15 percent of unhoused people were under age 18, while over half were aged 18-54. Older people, those over 55, make up a smaller portion of the total, but their numbers are slowly increasing.
While the Texas Homeless Network data actually show a decrease in the state’s total unhoused population from 2022-2023, some areas are seeing huge increases. Southeast Texas saw homelessness double from 2022-2024, according to federal data. One service provider in the city of Beaumont, interviewed by local news in February, said they have had to quadruple their services to meet demand—at the same time, the city has banned camping on public property.
Among the largest metropolitan areas, Dallas has the biggest unhoused population, though its total has fallen over the past two years. Houston’s number has been increasing slowly but is leveling off, while San Antonio’s is steadily increasing and is now the second largest total in Texas. Austin saw a major decrease in 2023, but a spike in 2024 threatens to undo that progress.
“Since [COVID] money is running out we have less resources, and we’ve returned to pre-pandemic unsheltered numbers. It’s alarming to see.”
When it comes to the number of people sleeping outside, Samuels is clear that things are worsening.
“We have seen an increase in unsheltered,” he said. “For a short period of time when we had [COVID] relief money, we had more programs operating and could shelter more people. Since that money is running out we have less resources, and we’ve returned to pre-pandemic unsheltered numbers. It’s alarming to see.”
A lack of shelter beds in certain cities, forcing people to sleep outside in dangerous weather, is a pressing issue in Texas as elsewhere, Samuels said, and while construction of suitable housing units varies between cities, he believes the state should certainly subsidize more affordable housing.
“But really what we need to look at is the capacity of programs that help people through the last step before they get out of homelessness,” he added. “Supportive and rapid rehousing programs are way over capacity with long wait lists. We need more of those resources so people can move out.”
Photograph by Naomi August on Unsplash
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