Legislation in Kansas this week is looking to ban those who receive government assistance from spending it on the movies, swimming pools, spas, lingerie and tobacco among other things. The law would only allow people receiving benefits to access $25 a day from an ATM in the land of Jayhawks. Seriously.
More than 65,000 Indiana residents will be dumped this spring from food stamp rolls after a draconian law was passed targeting the poor. In Missouri, legislators are hoping to ban poor people who receive government aid from buying seafood and steak.
That’s not all. According to the National Coalition of the Homeless, 33 cities banned or restricted feeding the homeless. Houston, a city some politicos have said is an example of how to work with the homeless, passed legislation forcing any group of people feeding the homeless to gain permission from the city or face a $2,000 fine.
People experiencing homelessness and advocates have been fighting legislation around the country for years to simply access public spaces — like sitting or lying on a sidewalk, or having a legal right to rest or sleep on public and private property.
Unfortunately, for the poor, there are no athletes or celebrities calling for a boycott of Kansas or Missouri because of the war on the poor. To my knowledge we have no Fortune 500 companies or business leaders pressuring local governments asking legislators to reverse their actions when creating laws that discriminate against people experiencing poverty.
In fact, in many cases these corporations are exacerbating poverty with low wages while benefiting from tax breaks that do little to support the poor.
Imagine for a minute if legislators created language today that banned people of color, the elderly, the disabled, and members of the LGBTQ community from accessing certain public spaces.
You may not know it, but that’s exactly what’s happening. After all, in many communities two or more black kids hanging out on a street corner can be considered a gang. The elderly and people experiencing disabilities are forced to sleep, at their own risk, under bridges and in city parks.
The LGBTQ community makes up an estimated 40 percent of all homeless youth — you know, those kids we want to run out of town, because they are bad for business.
In a local environment where we target homeless people for activities in public spaces without providing adequate housing — we shouldn’t be surprised that legislation arrives at the state level to keep people from enjoying steak and seafood, going to the movies or a spa or swimming. Unfortunately, I don’t think it ends there. There is a war on the poor in our country and the battle outside is raging.
In the end, for most government leaders, both liberal and conservative, poverty is an issue that must be dealt with through political calculations and tradeoffs — not with moral obligations. Never mind that access to housing and a good education strengthens our community.
In Oregon we have the chance to buck national trends and support everyday Oregonians to have an opportunity at a better life. First, there’s the Right to Rest Bill that protects people on the streets from being criminalized for their housing statutes. We also have the opportunity to increase rent assistance statewide by $10 million and pass an inclusionary zoning bill that would give local governments greater opportunities to create affordable housing. There’s also $100 million on the table to support land acquisition and building of critical affordable housing units statewide.
Instead of abandoning the poor, we have the chance to support Oregonians to access a better life. It’s not nearly enough, but it’s a start. It’s also a far cry from humiliating our own neighbors and punishing people for the systematic failures of a nation.