Texas lawmaker abruptly spiked his bill to punish cities that don't deal with homeless encampments
After several attempts by Democrats to weaken the bill and challenge its legitimacy through other procedural tactics, state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, asked for debate on the bill to end and resume on June 3, one day after the session ends.
Senate Bill 241, which had already passed the state Senate, would have forced Texas cities and counties to beef up their enforcement of a statewide ban on homeless encampments. Critics had argued the legislation won't help reduce homelessness.
Capriglione, who carried the proposal in the House, told The Texas Tribune he withdrew the bill to avoid a protracted procedural process that would have ultimately killed it. Capriglione, who authored the state's ban on homeless encampments, said he plans to work on similar legislation when the Texas Legislature convenes again in two years.
State lawmakers have shown exasperation with visible homelessness four years after Abbott signed the state's ban on homeless encampments into law.
'Whether it's in my area, in Fort Worth, or in Dallas, or here we're in Austin, everybody knows that these camping restrictions on homeless camping restrictions have not been enforced,' Capriglione said.
The number of unhoused Texans has grown in recent years as the state's housing costs have ballooned. Almost 28,000 Texans experienced homelessness last year, federal estimates show — about 8% more than before the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 12,000 people experienced unsheltered homelessness, meaning they slept outdoors, in their cars or in other places where people aren't supposed to live.
The bill from state Sen. Pete Flores, a Pleasanton Republican, would require cities and counties to allow residents to make formal complaints if they suspect a violation of the camping ban. The Texas attorney general could declare that city or county a 'violating local entity' if local officials don't resolve that complaint within 90 days. The state could then step in to clear encampments and recoup the costs from that city or county's sales taxes.
House lawmakers made some tweaks to the bill Monday, requiring the attorney general's office to give cities and counties a 45-day heads-up that they're at risk of becoming a 'violating local entity.' They shot down other amendments, like a Democratic proposal to make it clear that cities and counties could resolve complaints about homeless encampments by finding ways to rehouse people camping there.
Texas lawmakers enacted the statewide camping ban after Austin officials in 2019 relaxed restrictions on public encampments. The number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness grew in following years, and Austin voters restored the city's camping ban through a public referendum. Shortly after, state lawmakers enacted the statewide camping ban — making sleeping outside or camping on public property a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $500 fine.
Austin has issued more than 1,300 citations since 2021 for violations of the camping ban and related violations, according to city data. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld bans on homeless encampments last year.
Homeless service providers and advocates have long argued that ticketing people experiencing homelessness only makes it harder for them to get back on their feet. Compelling local governments to do so, some have worried, might sap resources from strategies that focus on finding new housing for people experiencing street homelessness. They say those initiatives have helped Houston and Dallas reduce unsheltered homelessness by more than 25% since before the pandemic.
Texas lawmakers also advanced legislation requiring cities to give neighbors a heads-up if it wants to convert a property to house homeless people.
First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
7 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Mike Johnson says Ghislaine Maxwell coming clean on Epstein case would be ‘a great service to the country'
Speaker Mike Johnson called on Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, to come clean and told Americans that he "hoped" she could be trusted as he faces the growing uproar around the White House's handling of the investigation. Johnson appeared Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, where moderator Kristen Welker asked him point-blank if the convicted sex-trafficker girlfriend of Epstein could be trusted to accurately testify about the crimes she and Epstein committed. Epstein was awaiting prosecution for sex trafficking underage girls after a previous conviction on similar charges when he died in federal custody. Maxwell has been thrust back into the spotlight as the MAGA base has grown frustrated with President Donald Trump and his administration's shutting down of the so-called Epstein files release. Last week, a top Department of Justice official met with Maxwell about the case. "Well, I mean, look; it's a good question. I hope so," Johnson told Welker in response. "I hope that she would want to come clean." "I hope she's telling the truth. She is convicted, she's serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking. Her character is in some if she wants to come clean now, that would be a great service to the country. We want to know every bit of information that she has." The House Oversight Committee voted this week to issue a subpoena for Maxwell after the Justice Department announced its own plans to speak with her. Agency officials did so for nine hours between Thursday and Friday, after making a statement seeming to confirm that her testimony hadn't been aggressively sought before. Some have called Maxwell to testify and suggested she should be given a pardon for sharing what she knows about the Epstein case. She was convicted of sexual abuse against minors and sex trafficking for helping Epstein carry out crimes. Johnson touted the Oversight subpoena favorably Sunday, casting it as evidence that GOP leadership supported efforts aimed at transparency. The Trump administration turned speculation about Epstein's death and the so-called 'Client List' of his co-conspirators into a raging wildfire in early July. The Justice Department and FBI published a joint memo explaining that future releases from the files would not take place, and that the list of Epstein's accomplices was not found. Epstein was rumored to have cultivated personal relationships with many powerful men and institutions. Critics of the president have alleged that a cover-up is in the works regarding the Epstein files. Democrats have hammered the president for his reversal, and a pair of scoops from the Wall Street Journal have reported on the president's connections to Epstein, to Trump's fury. The newspaper reported the contents of a message allegedly penned by Trump to Epstein as part of a 50th birthday celebration in 2003, including allusions to a shared 'secret' between them. Trump firmly denied authoring the note, and sued the Journal and its reporters in response. A second article from the Journal days later reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed Trump in May that he was mentioned in the Epstein investigation multiple times, but it was not clear in what context. The White House called that story 'fake' and has repeatedly insinuated that Democrats including Joe Biden tampered with evidence while Trump was out of office. Being mentioned in the files does not mean wrongdoing, and hundreds of names are reportedly included. The lead GOP co-sponsor behind a House resolution that would force the Justice Department to release the entirety of its collected evidence related to Epstein said Sunday that his push was to help the convicted pedophile's victims and would only grow stronger in the coming weeks. Earlier on the same network, Rep. Thomas Massie appeared alongside the resolution's lead Democratic co-sponsor, Rep. Ro Khanna, as the two promoted a resolution that would force Attorney General Pam Bondi to release 'all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials' related to the Epstein and Maxwell investigations. Massie told Welker that 'the release of the Epstein files is emblematic of what Trump ran for' and explained that the president's MAGA base expected results. 'There seems to be a class of people beyond the law, beyond the judicial all thought that when Trump was elected, he would be the bull in the china shop and break that all up,' said Massie. Massie went on to say that the Trump administration had lost his trust on the issue after publicly supporting transparency around the investigation, then doing an abrupt about-face. The administration is now calling on its supporters to move on from the issue and focus on hashing out issues with the 2016 'Russiagate' investigation instead of Epstein. Top administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, also spent months calling for the very releases the Justice Department says it won't authorize. 'People who were allegedly working on this weren't sincere in their efforts,' Massie said. 'Somebody should ask Speaker Mike Johnson, why did he recess Congress early so that he didn't have to deal with the Epstein issue?' 'Politics is the art of the doable. There's enough public pressure right now that we can get 218 votes and force this to a vote on the floor,' said Massie. He also firmly rejected a DOJ memo explaining the administration's position against further releases of information from the Epstein files, despite the very public promises of Bondi and others to do the opposite. In the memo, agency officials said that explicit imagery involving children was 'intertwined' throughout the files collected by the Justice Department. Some have said the files should not be released to protect sex-abuse victims of both Maxwell and Epstein. 'That's a straw man [argument],' Massie responded on Sunday, after Welker read part of the memo. 'Ro [Khanna] and I carefully crafted this legislation so that the victims' names would be redacted, and that no child pornography will be released.'
New York Post
8 minutes ago
- New York Post
NY Republicans tie Dem opponents to Zohran Mamdani: 'They're Mamdani Democrats!'
Gleeful Republicans will make socialist Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani a key campaign issue as they pound 'Mamdani Democrats' running for election across the state, party insiders said. GOP officials will tie Mamdani to Democrat candidates from Long Island to upstate, with the idea the party will answer for the nomination in more moderate areas such as Staten Island, Nassau and Suffolk — and even places like Binghamton, The Post has learned. 'If there was ever any doubt that our city is headed in the wrong direction, this past Democratic mayoral primary election gave people their answer,' Staten Island Republican chairman Michael Tannousis said, noting Mamdani will be a campaign point even in judge races. 3 Republican candidates across New York state will attempt to tie their opponents to New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, party insiders told The Post. Getty Images 'Zohran Mamdani is the official nominee of the Staten Island Democratic Party,' he added. 'In November, Staten Island voters will have a choice: whether they will vote for Zohran Mamdani's socialist Democratic Party or the Republican candidates they trust.' Republican nominee Remy Smith, a Housing Court judge, was set to kick off her campaign Sunday against Democrat attorney Matthew Santamauro for a civil court seat on the island. Tannousis said that the Democrat is running on 'the Mamdani ticket.' Mamdani's name will 'absolutely' be used as a weapon against Democrats in Suffolk County, where Republican District Attorney Ray Tierney is up for re-election and 18 county legislative seats are up for grabs, the GOP chairman said. 'The Democratic Party has anointed a communist as the face of the party,' party chairman Jesse Garcia said. 'hey've embraced his policy of defunding the police, antisemitism and higher taxes. Not one Democrat in Suffolk County has denounced Mamdani. 'Our policies are more in tune with Suffolk voters,' Garcia claimed. 'We are going to compare our Republican candidates' records of making Suffolk safer and affordable compared to the Mamdani Democrats' that advocate communism, loss of property rights, antisemitic views, higher taxes and defund the police.' 3 New York Republicans hope that Mamdani will hurt Democrats in more moderate areas like Long Island or upstate. Paul Martinka Mamdani identifies himself as a democratic socialist but he has come under fire for declaring in a resurfaced clip that one of his goals is 'seizing the means of production' — which critics note reeks of the approach of communist regimes. Meanwhile, Republicans in Nassau County will claim that Democrats there share the 'dangerous and reckless Mamdani agenda,' said Nassau GOP chairman Joe Cairo. There are dozens of county, town and village seats up for election in November. The headliner countywide races include Republicans seeking re-election — County Executive Bruce Blakeman Bruce Blakeman, DA Anne Donnelly and Comptroller Elaine Phillips. Cairo called Mamdani and extreme socialist who will destroy the city's economy and make 'Gotham a lawless haven for criminals.' 'Sadly, Zohran Mamdani shares more than a political party line with his Long Island Democrats – he shares a corrosive and dangerous agenda that embraces defunding the police, cashless bail, closing jails, and soaring taxes,' Cairo said. 'Every Nassau County Republican candidate on the ballot — from county legislators to town supervisors – stand firmly against the out-of-touch priorities of Zohran Mamdani and the Democrat candidates in Nassau County who clearly share the dangerous and reckless Mamdani Agenda.' Mamdani's earth-shattering election win in last month's crowded Democratic primary has made him the immediate frontrunner to become New York's next mayor — but the win has not gone unnoticed by upstate Republicans, either. 'We will be ready to strike once voters are educated about Zohran Mamdani. Mamdani is out of touch with the voters here,' said Broome County Republican Party Benji Federman, which includes the city of Binghamton. Binghamton Republican Mayor Jared Kraham is running for re-election in the Democratic-leaning city against Miles Burnett. Start and end your day informed with our newsletters Morning Report and Evening Update: Your source for today's top stories Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters The upstate city is part of the economically struggling Southern Tier that borders Pennsylvania and higher taxes that Mamdani is proposing for the Big Apple are out of sync with the region, the GOP leader said. Federman said he even has liberal friends in Williamsburg, Brooklyn who are terrified of a Mamdani mayoralty. 'Proposals to raise corporate taxes and taxes on the rich are not popular in Williamsburg and not popular in the Southern Tier,' he said. 3 The Post's coverage of Mamdani's meeting with city business leaders. State Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs said the GOP scare tactics of trying to make Mamdani the bogeyman won't work, especially when they have to defend President Trump's hardline policies. 'Typical Republican distraction. Should we tie every Nassau Republican to that nut, Marjorie Taylor Green [Georgia congresswoman] or the assorted antisemites that Trump regularly socializes with?' said Jacobs, also the Nassau County Democratic leader. 'We will do fine just tying them to that Big Ugly Bill that will cause health insurance rates to go through the roof,' added Jacobs, referring to the tax and spending bill approved by Trump and the Republican-led Congress. Jacobs has not endorsed Mamdani. Neither have Senate Democratic Minority leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both Brooklynites. Mamdani, who is vacationing in his native Uganda, will face Republican Curtis Sliwa and three independents in the November election. Current Mayor Eric Adams, ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and attorney Jim Walden will each appear on city election ballots on minor party lines. The Mamdani campaign had no immediate comment.
NBC News
9 minutes ago
- NBC News
Rep. Ralph Norman announces bid for South Carolina governor
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a member of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, announced on Sunday that he is running for governor, looking to succeed GOP Gov. Henry McMaster, who cannot run for re-election due to term limits. Norman has at times been a thorn in GOP leadership's side, particularly on sweeping spending bills. Norman was also one of the few House lawmakers not to endorse President Donald Trump in the presidential primary, instead backing former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley's presidential campaign. He praised Trump during his announcement, saying his actions would make him one of the "greatest" presidents. "What he did to wipe out the world's, the terror of Iran, what he did, the courage that he had to do what he did is going to put him on the annals of the greatest presidents we have ever had," Norman said. "And I believe that South Carolina needs that same kind of leadership right now, which is why I'm here to announce I'm running to be the 118th governor of South Carolina." "I'm running for governor to shake things up," he added, amid cheers of "Ralph! Ralph! Ralph!" Norman said he would work to pass term limits for state legislators, a message that was emblazoned in front of his microphone: "Term limits. Clean up Columbia." Haley previously served as South Carolina's governor and she endorsed Norman's gubernatorial campaign on Sunday, according to a press release from his campaign. Several GOP contenders have already announced their bids, including Alan Wilson, the state's attorney general; and Pamela Evette, the state's lieutenant governor.
