Opinion: HB 1380 would allow homeless people to sue a city and collect taxpayer dollars

Date: Monday, January 27, 2025

A proposed bill, HB 1380, could allow homeless individuals to sue cities over public land restrictions, potentially increasing taxpayer costs.

Mark Harmsworth says HB 1380 would do absolutely nothing to address the homelessness problems in Washington and would create higher costs for everyone

Mark Harmsworth
Washington Policy Center

House Bill 1380 (HB 1380), introduced by Representative Mia Gregerson, (D) would allow a homeless person to sue a municipality that restricts the use of public land for a homeless camp. The legislation would redefine how a city or town may create rules and legislation for the use of public land with a vague and indefensible definition. The definition states that municipalities are encouraged to,

‘enact objectively reasonable time, place, and manner regulations to manage public spaces effectively and preserve public peace, health, and safety for the benefit of the entire community.’

The definition is so vague that almost any regulations a municipality could place on the use of public land would open the doors to a lawsuit. Questions around what consists of reasonable time and manner are subject to a wide range of interpretation and will undoubtably create a legal web of issues.

Attorney fees would be awarded in addition to the plaintiff relief should a lawsuit succeed.

The taxpayers of the municipality would be on the hook for the cost of the lawsuit, which ultimately would result in higher property and sales taxes.

For cities like Spokane, wrestling with a dramatically increasing homelessness population, HB 1380 will exacerbate the situation and will remove resources from the city budget that are already stretched thin dealing with solving the problem. Spokane Representatives Hill (D) and Ormsby (D) have both signed onto the bill.

HB 1380 would do absolutely nothing to address the homelessness problems in Washington and would create higher costs for everyone.

House Bill 1380 is currently scheduled for action in the House Committee on Housing on January 28^.

Mark Harmsworth is the director of the Small Business Center at the Washington Policy Center.