After a debate citing Hitler, bill penalizing homelessness passes Tennessee legislature

The legislation makes it a misdemeanor crime to camp in areas near a state or interstate highways.

Roll call is taken in the House during the 112th Tennessee General Assembly, at Tennessee state Capitol in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include how the bill also makes it a felony to camp on all public property, unless otherwise specified.

Tennessee Republican lawmakers passed legislation Monday to make camping on public property a crime, which critics say effectively criminalizes homelessness. 

Under HB978, if a person camps on the shoulder, right-of-way, bridge, overpass or underpass of a state or interstate highway, they could face a misdemeanor offense and a $50 fine or community service requirement.

The bill also makes it a felony to camp on all public property, unless otherwise specified. Current law, makes it a felony to camp on all state property.

Tennessee House Republicans on Monday advanced the legislation, which cleared the Senate last week after a lengthy debate. The legislation will now go to Gov. Bill Lee's desk. 

Sponsors Sen. Paul Bailey, R-Sparta, and Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, have defended the bill as a tool local law enforcement could use to address homelessness.

The legislation adds the public property provision to the Equal Access to Property Act of 2012, which made camping on state-owned property a felony. A fiscal review of the legislation found zero convictions under the Equal Access to Property act.

The 2012 law also gave local governments the ability to impound and dispose of camping equipment used on public property that is not designated for camping.

"This would be up to local authorities as to whether they want to enforce this law," Bailey said during a Senate session. "This is not mandatory, but just gives them the ability to do so."

Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis, said he experienced homelessness multiple times as a child and criticized the legislation, calling for a more "compassionate" approach.

"Thank God this law wasn't in place where I was living," Parkinson said Monday on the House floor. "Those are individual stories out there, individual situations, and to criminalize individuals who are in those situations is just a terrible, terrible idea. It's not representative of the values of our state, the values of our people here in Tennessee."

Advocates trying to address homelessness have opposed the bill since its introduction last year. 

"If you can't be in any of those places, then where are you supposed to be?" asked Paula Foster, executive director of OpenTable Nashville. "If people are being criminalized for falling asleep somewhere, anywhere … What are we going to do?" 

State Sen. Frank Niceley offers remarks as the debate SB-7003 on education during a special session of the Senate at the State Capitol Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021 in Nashville, Tenn.

Democrats and some Republicans opposed the legislation, which passed the Senate with a 22-10 vote. House members voted 57-28 for the bill, with six declining to vote. 

Sen. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains, drew widespread criticism last week for meandering comments tenuously connecting Adolf Hitler to the legislation. Niceley said Hitler at one point lived on the streets and used the experience as a "way to connect with the masses."

"People can come out of these camps and have a very productive life, or in Hitler's case, a very unproductive life," Niceley said.

Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Nashville, called the comments "embarrassing" to Tennessee.

Melissa Brown, Adam Friedman and Arcelia Martin are reporters for The Tennessean. Reach them at mabrown@tennessean.com, afriedman@tennessean.com and amartin1@gannett.com.