Oregon Democrats have put forward a bill that would decriminalize camping despite calls for help from residents already exasperated by the homelessness crisis in the state.
Oregon House Bill 3501, known as the Right to Rest Act, states that homeless individuals will have "a privacy interest and a reasonable expectation of privacy in any property belonging to the person, regardless of whether the property is located in a public space."
The bill also allows homeless individuals to sue for up to $1,000 if they are "harassed" or told to relocate.
The bill says that "persons experiencing homelessness" will "be permitted to use public spaces in the same manner as any other person without discrimination based on their housing status" and states that homeless individuals have a right to "move freely in public spaces without discrimination and time limitations that are based on housing status."
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The housing bill comes as homelessness in Oregon spiked in 2022, Oregon Public Radio reported, and residents in cities like Portland and Eugene have sounded the alarm about the negative effects of homeless encampments.
"I love Portland and I love where I live," Portland homeowner Jacob Adams told Fox & Friends in February in a plea to elected officials to do something about a homeless encampment next to his house, where fires and drug activity have terrorized his family.
"I'm asking you to please do something, so the people of the city feel safe."
Armand Martens, an 83-year-old Vietnam veteran who also lives next to Adams, told a local outlet he felt safer walking down the streets of Saigon than he does in Portland.
Homelessness has been an issue in cities outside Portland, including the college town of Eugene where squatters living in RVs have been causing anxiety for residents in one neighborhood for two years.
"No one is legally supposed to be camping here, no one is supposed to be giving fellatio in the corner, no one’s supposed to be shooting up heroin in plain sight, no one’s supposed to be trespassing on our property," Eugene resident Laine Radcliffe told a local outlet earlier this month.
Additionally, Portland census data showed the city has lost 0.04% of its population after growing for 30 years straight. Though the general population has declined for three years in a row, Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office reported a 50% increase in homelessness from 2019 to 2022.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the bill’s sponsor, Democratic State Representative Farrah Chaichi, but did not immediately receive a response.
"Most of the advocate community in the state really want to establish a constitutional right to exist, and I am very sympathetic with that position because I don’t believe that when people lose their housing they lose their legal and constitutional rights," Jimmy Jones, executive director of the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency, told KATU 2 ABC about the bill.
Fox News’ Kyra Colah contributed to this report
