Arizona House bill aims to crack down on drug use at homeless shelters

A state bill proposes to create drug-free zones around shelters and ban the use of taxpayer funds to support programs that rent rooms for the homeless at hotels where guests are also staying.

The legislation in Arizona's House of Representatives is aimed at addressing the ongoing homeless crisis and improving public safety.

But critics of House Bill 2782 argue that those provisions would criminalize the unhoused, as well as the service providers working to help them, potentially making matters worse.

Cities across the state have struggled to get a grip on the homeless crisis, as evidenced by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development’s latest Point-in-Time Count that showed Arizona’s unhoused population reached 14,237 in 2023, a 5% jump from the year prior.

Increases in rental prices and the cost of living played a role in driving people onto the street, according to local nonprofit groups that provide homeless support.

In the metro Phoenix area, renters continue to face the possibility of losing their homes after receiving eviction notices. The Maricopa County Justice Courts reported that eviction filings hit a new high of 8,025 in January, surpassing the previous record of 7,948 set in October.

With HB 2782, or the Arizona Homeless Protection and Drug Control Act, Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, is proposing a string of amendments to existing laws that will address what he believes to be the root causes of homelessness: addiction and mental illness.

“Cities are struggling with how to deal with this, and unfortunately the playbook has been, for decades, a housing-first approach, where we can just place them in shelters,” Gress said.

He was referring to the strategy of prioritizing a person’s housing before treating the symptoms that led to them living on the street. Housing-first, he continued, places hope that homeless individuals who are suffering from mental illness and substance addiction will “make the life decision of getting back on track.”

But, he asserted, “it doesn’t work.”

“We should refocus our effort on treatment first,” he said.

If enacted, his bill would:

• Establish drug-free homeless service zones around shelters, imposing harsher penalties on those selling or using drugs within such areas.

• Push state agencies to collect and share more data related to criminal activity by and against unhoused people.

• Create a Homeless Shelter and Services Fund by transferring $75 million from the state’s pool of money dedicated to affordable housing assistance.

• Outlaw the state and municipalities from using taxpayer dollars to support programs that use hotel rooms as a stopgap refuge for the homeless.

“They (the homeless) are created to live a full life and participate in society like everyone else,” Gress said. “But they might need a bit of help and structure along the way, and that’s what this bill intends to do.”

Nicole Newhouse is the executive director of the Arizona Housing Coalition, a collection of nonprofits and housing experts that advocates for affordable housing and ending homelessness.

The coalition understands Gress intends to make shelters a safe place for the homeless, she said, but “this is the wrong way to do it.”

“Not only does (HB 2782) criminalize homelessness, it criminalizes homeless service providers that are not policing (drug use),” she said. “So yes, it does (criminalize homelessness), and it gives penalties to people that are doing the good work every day.”

Under the current draft of the bill, a shelter operator and its staff would be held accountable for not enforcing policies banning drug use and could get hit with a misdemeanor.

“I’ve been told that providers have strict policies that do not allow drug use in their facilities. If that’s the case, they should be willing to embrace this penalty,” Gress said.

Another section of the bill that’s concerning to the coalition is the proposed reallocation of $75 million in affordable housing money. Those dollars come from the Housing Trust Fund, which received a $150 million budget appropriation from lawmakers this fiscal year.

Gress said that while spending on affordable housing is part of the solution to preventing homelessness, the state must “prioritize our resources.” He thinks Arizona has to triage how that money is spent.

“What’s more urgent, building apartments that will barely make a dent in our housing stock or helping people living in a bush get off the streets and get into a safe shelter space?” Gress said. “I would say the latter is the most urgent, pressing thing in our situation.”

The measure also would place guidelines on mixed lodging, where hotels are used as both a commercial space for guests and a city-sponsored shelter, like the Windemere Hotel in Mesa. The bill would require buyer-beware signs to be posted around the facilities that work with service providers to offer hotel rooms.

The signs would notify guests that the “business is being used to house homeless individuals alongside the general public. It is recommended that all guests keep hotel doors locked, safely store their belongings and report any health or safety concerns to local law enforcement.”

“The last thing we need to be doing for people suffering from addiction is giving them a door to close where they can be by themselves,” Gress said, when asked how the policy will be an effective strategy in tackling homelessness. “They need 24/7 support and services.”

Coalition members discussed the bill with Gress on Wednesday morning, just before the second day of the organization’s annual housing conference in Mesa got started. During the call, they shared their concerns in the hopes the group and Gress could find alternatives to some of the provisions.

Gress said he was working Wednesday on some of the language in the bill and hopes to introduce some amendments on Thursday. The bill previously passed through the House Appropriations Committee.

But as the bill stands now, the strategies laid out in it won’t resolve homelessness, Newhouse said after the meeting.

“We are all for making those places and spaces safer. We don't agree that getting homeless individuals into the criminal justice system or even the service providers, who are not calling because of their experience, into the criminal justice system,” she said. “We don't think that that actually will end homelessness. We think it will deepen it.”

Stepping in: Phoenix OKs stopgap funding to keep downtown homeless shelter open

Shawn Raymundo covers the West Valley cities of Glendale, Peoria and Surprise. Reach him at sraymundo@gannett.com or follow him on X @ShawnzyTsunami.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona lawmaker seeks harsher penalties, treatment first for homeless