A continuation.

If you’re familiar with the Right to Rest Act, you likely already know that 2023 is far from its first legislative season. This bill dates back to 2015, and came out of long-term work towards a Homeless Bill of Rights.

It keeps coming back season after season.

New representatives keep backing it. The coalition behind it grows. More endorsements pour in.

Why?

Because Oregon needs this bill.

The Right to Rest Act won’t solve our housing crisis, but it will improve the quality of life for unhoused individuals across the state. It will keep people out of prison, it will prevent unchecked policing of unhoused individuals, and it will act as an important step toward the decriminalization of houselessness.

Federal research confirms what many homeless community members already know: the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness has clearly stated that successful responses to homelessness must include an end to criminalization practices, as well as the provision of housing and supportive services. Yet, Oregon leaders look to sanctioned encampments, surveillance technology, and camping bans as effective solutions to the housing crisis. How much research will it take until they realize what we already know? Criminalization exacerbates the crisis, takes important funds away from real solutions, and furthers the division between housed and unhoused individuals.

The Right to Rest Act is a bill for everyone. It doesn’t give unhoused individuals special privileges or place them above the law, it simply protects the right we all have to exist.

So, once more, in 2023 we persist. The campaign for the Right to Rest Act continues, stronger than ever.