(The Center Square) – State lawmakers are considering a proposal that would essentially prohibit local camping bans unless cities can afford to house every homeless person with their pets and belongings.
The House Housing Committee took public testimony on House Bill 2489 on Tuesday, following another proposal last year that would’ve let the courts decide if camping bans are “objectively reasonable.” The bill under consideration now leaves that up to the state, with several guardrails that are hard to meet.
If approved, HB 2489 would block cities and counties from enforcing laws that “criminalizes, penalizes, or otherwise prohibits a person from engaging in life-sustaining activities on public property.” It would only allow enforcement if “adequate” shelter space was available at the time and place of said conduct.
Critics voiced major concerns about what the bill considers “life-sustaining activities” and “adequate.”
“This bill, in its breadth, would effectively eliminate the city’s ability to manage our public camping or public use in general and parks, the soccer fields, sensitive environmental areas, levies, sidewalks, no matter the impact on families, seniors, children or the environment, unless the city can provide shelter that meets an extraordinarily prescriptive standard,” Christina Schuck, deputy city attorney for the city of Kent, testified. “As you’ve heard, those standards are so rigid that almost no shelter would qualify.”
According to HB 2489, “life-sustaining activities include moving, resting, sitting, standing, lying down, sleeping, protecting oneself and personal property from the elements, eating, drinking and other basic activities necessary for survival.” The proposal defines “adequate” shelter space with several criteria.
Those provisions require “adequate alternative shelter space” to be legally and physically accessible on a continuing basis for free, with no more than one check-in per day, accommodating disabilities, pets, partners, married or not, family members, “other support persons” and possessions that a person has, without requiring them to sacrifice any other legal right afforded to them by local, state or federal law.
Schuck and other critics, including local officials from cities of Everett, Lakewood, Normandy Park, Kennewick and Spokane Valley, signed up to testify in opposition on Tuesday. About 58% of the over 4,600 people who signed in to state their position virtually or testify did so in opposition to HB 2489.
The American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, testified in support of HB 2489 with Burien Mayor Sarah Moore, who testified on her own behalf, Interfaith Works Thurston County and others. The committee ran out of time, so several supporters and critics were unable to testify outside of written statements.
Rep. Mia Gregerson, D-Seattle, proposed HB 2489 after her “objectively reasonable” threshold failed to pass last year. The new proposal would essentially codify Martin v. Boise, a lower court ruling that prohibited the enforcement of camping bans unless cities had enough shelter beds for the homeless.
“This bill does not take away any of the city’s ability to enforce laws that address crime, protect public safety or help people in crisis,” Gregerson argued during Tuesday’s public hearing. “This bill recognizes that every city, every county and every community has different tools, needs and approaches.”
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Martin v. Boise in June 2024, allowing Spokane and other cities to enforce camping bans. Nearly 75% of voters had approved one in 2023 for Spokane, but the Washington Supreme Court threw it out months after the SCOTUS ruling. Spokane has replaced its ban twice since then, and citations have increased by just over 333% in the months since the most recent version.
Data obtained by The Center Square indicates that Spokane issued 642 citations from Oct. 30, 2025, to Jan. 17, 2026, after issuing only 148 unlawful camping tickets during that period the year before.
One of the people who signed up to testify that the committee didn’t have time for also helped lead the effort to overturn Spokane’s voter-approved camping ban in 2023. Julie Garcia, executive director of Jewels Helping Hands, now oversees Mayor Lisa Brown’s city-funded scattered-site shelter system.
Rep. Timm Ormsby and Rep. Natasha Hill, two Spokane Democrats, are also sponsoring this proposal.
If HB 2489 passes, it could gut Spokane’s new camping ban, which has addressed quality-of-life issues and public safety concerns downtown. Other groups that signed on to support the proposal include the Seattle/King County Coalition for Homelessness, UnitedHealthcare, Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, Faith Action Network, Lived Experience Coalition and Columbia Legal Services, among others.
“We do need more than a ban on bans,” Moore said, “but removing the option of passing homeless individuals from city to city as each one implements a ban is a humane and a necessary first step.”
“All of us fear an unfunded mandate,” the Burien mayor continued, “but I fear even more, a de facto race to the ban, creating an increasingly destabilized and exhausted population of unhoused folks.”
The Association of Washington Cities, or AWC, which represents nearly every city in the state, signed in opposition to the bill with the Washington State Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. Redmond Police Chief Darrell Lowe said HB 2489 undermines public safety and homelessness services statewide.
“I don’t believe there’s any shelter system in Washington that would actually meet these standards … regardless of how many beds are empty,” Lowe testified. “So officers across the state cannot clear blocked sidewalks, address fire hazards under overpasses, or ensure public access to public spaces, but we will be required to explain to frustrated communities that state law prohibits enforcement.”
The committee will decide whether to advance the bill or hold additional hearings over the coming days.
