Rep. Sophie Phillips, D-Bear.

legis.delaware.gov

By Benjamin Rothstein

DOVER – Delaware State Rep. Sophie Phillips appeared virtually before the Kent County Levy Court during Tuesday’s workshop to discuss House Bill 55, which disallows discrimination against someone solely for their status as being homeless.

“This legislation takes rights already afforded to unhoused Delawareans, and all of us, and centralizes them in one place,” said Rep. Phillips. “It does not give homeless individuals any new rights. It simply ensures that they are afforded the same protections as every other citizen in our state.”

Rep. Phillips added that the bill also adds a complaint-driven process that allows discriminatory acts against homeless people to be reported and acted upon.

Some commissioners felt that the protections put in place existed already.

“I just think it’s a redundancy. They already have the rights,” said Commissioner Robert Scott.

“So, what does this do for (a homeless person)? What specific does this protect them against that they don’t already have?” asked Commissioner Paul Hertz.

Commissioner Allan Angel went to bat for the bill.

“Unless you’ve been homeless and you’ve worked alongside them, you wouldn’t really understand this,” said Commissioner Angel.

“But when a homeless person doesn’t look like the norm of a person that has a full-time job and shelter and they push a cart to have a bag of clothing or whatever, they are treated differently.”

Commissioner Angel asked about posted signage, such as if a sign is posted that reads “Patrons only” or “No parking” would apply to the homeless. Rep. Phillips replied that it would under the proposed bill.

“I think one big piece of misinformation I’ve been hearing is that it’s going to impact small businesses,” she said.

“There are three other states that passed this and we took a look at their net growth in small businesses, and it has increased, and it’s largely followed the national average and that grew year over year,” said Rep. Phillips, referring to Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Illinois, who have similar legislation.

During the meeting, Kent County Administrator Ken Decker informed Rep. Phillips of a passage that related to building laws that only mentioned municipalities. She confirmed that the passage would be addressed to include mention of county government.

The bill has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee, where it had a hearing without a vote March 27.