Letter to the Editor – Amanda Lucas

Dear Editor,

There is a deeply concerning bill before the State Legislature right now, written by Sen. Carden Summers of Cordele, sponsored by our own Sen. Larry Walker. Senate Bill 535 supposedly addresses the problem of homelessness in Georgia. There exists an increasingly thin line between what hard-working Georgians can deal with, and unexpected events that could push us into desperate circumstances. The “Reducing Street Homelessness Act” treats the homeless people in our state, the non-profit organizations working with them, and the areas in which they live, as if not having a home is a crime and working with the homeless has no value. As Proverbs says, “Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.” This bill simply punishes homeless people for the situation they are in, defunds organizations trying to help them, and threatens the localities where homeless Georgians live with reduced state funding. In no way does it propose a solution-based framework for the problem.

Instead of creating a practical approach to decreasing homelessness, S.B. 535 codifies legislators’ discomfort with seeing homeless people on the drive from their own homes to the State Legislature. It has nothing to do with solving the problem it claims to address. Sen. Summers is spending Georgians’ hard earned tax dollars on bringing in a group from Texas, Cicero Research, to advise on this legislation, even though our own Department of Community Affairs has testified that passing this bill is financially risky for the state of Georgia.

Homelessness has a clear solution: if a person has permanent shelter, they are no longer homeless. S.B. 535 makes proven approaches to improving this problem impossible. The “Reducing Street Homelessness Act” aims to move Georgia’s homeless population from the streets to…parking lots. The current issue of people living out in all weather without access to running water and a toilet to dispose of their waste would be a shame in any prosperous state, and I applaud the recognition that this suffering is a blot on the honor of Georgia. But by making it impossible for the communities involved to offer permanent housing solutions to the homeless, S.B. 535 perpetuates the problem it claims to solve.

While I wish it weren’t true, legislators sometimes write bills that have rational problem-solving less in mind than their own emotional response to a personally uncomfortable experience. As a citizen who sees that homelessness is a problem in my own community in Warner Robins, I would like to see real solutions and not just virtue-signaling from our Legislature.

If Sen. Carden Summers were seriously looking to address the plight of the homeless, he would do well to consider the extensive body of research that finds providing supportive housing and services to this population is both the most effective and the most cost-saving for taxpayers. It may not be politically expedient, but it will take people off the streets more effectively, while saving taxpayers money in emergency room visits, police calls, and expensive temporary non-solutions.

Sincerely,

Amanda Lucas

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