Oklahoma aims to ban all but two cities from providing homeless shelters, homeless outreach
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — An Oklahoma bill would make it illegal for all cities in the state, except Oklahoma City and Tulsa, to provide shelters or outreach for homeless citizens—and would also require them to immediately end any existing programs.
Oklahoma Senate Bill 484, introduced and authored by newly-elected Senator Lisa Standridge (R-Norman), would ban all cities in Oklahoma with fewer than 300,000 residents from using city resources to operate homeless shelters or perform homeless outreach.
Only Oklahoma City and Tulsa have more than 300,000 residents, meaning, if SB 484 were to pass, it would apply to every city in the state except Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
If any cities with a population below 300,000 that currently operate homeless shelters or outreach programs, the bill would require the cities to "immediately terminate" them.
Specifically, SB 484 says:
“No municipality of this state with a population less than three hundred thousand (300,000) according to the most recent Federal Decennial Census shall provide programs or services to homeless persons including, but not limited to, owning or leasing land for the purpose of building or maintaining a homeless shelter.”
“Any municipality that meets the population requirement set forth in subsection B of this section that is providing programs or services to homeless persons on the effective date of this act shall immediately terminate such services and, if the municipality currently owns or leases land for the purpose of building or maintaining a homeless shelter, cease using the land for such purpose.”
The bill defines a homeless person as anyone who:
- Lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence
- Has as a primary nighttime residence a publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations
- Has as a primary nighttime residence a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings
Or
- Persons and families who do not have access to normal accommodations as a result of violence or the threat of violence from a cohabitant.
If passed, the bill would take effect Nov. 1.
News 4 reached out to Sen. Standridge for an interview, but did not get a response.
Numerous Oklahoma leaders who work in homeless outreach say SB 484 would be catastrophic if enacted.
In a statement, Homeless Alliance CEO Meghan Mueller told News 4:
We are disappointed to hear about SB 484 and find it to be counterproductive to our approach to homeless services. Homelessness can affect anyone - be they in urban, suburban, or rural areas. Moving a problem is different from solving a problem. Homeless response systems in large cities are already strained beyond capacity. When you limit the ability of communities to respond to the needs of their own residents, no one wins. This is not culturally competent, nor does it take into account the impact on other communities in our state. We hope that our senators understand some of these concerns as they discuss this bill.
Homeless Alliance CEO, Meghan Mueller
George Young, a pastor and former state senator from Oklahoma City, said he can’t wrap his head around why SB 484 would ever be thought necessary.
"I can't imagine why a piece of legislation of that nature would even be brought up,” Young said.
Young says, as a pastor, he can't square the bill’s proposal with the Bible's teachings to help the needy and "love thy neighbor."
"I can't help you if you try get me give to you some logic behind a piece of legislation like that,” he said.
It's not the first time Young has seen lawmakers try to address the homelessness issue in a way he finds questionable.
Last April, Governor Stitt signed into law a bill that made it a crime to camp along a public right of way.
In 2023, the City of Shawnee passed an ordinance that made it a crime to sit or lie down on public sidewalks.
"It has not always been that way,” Young said. “This has been since my ten years in the legislature. It has been something that has been used as a kind of political football to kick around and to use, to say, ‘You know what? People ought to do this a bit; people ought to do better,’ and leave it at that—instead of trying to help the many people who are trying to do better."
Beyond his moral objections, Young can't see how banning smaller cities from opening shelters would do anything but make problems worse.
"People dying on the streets because of the environment, because of the weather, people who live in rural areas or areas outside major cities trying to get to a place where they could receive some at least shelter and some food and some water,” he said. “And that's not who we are. That's not who we want to be.”