Georgia bill seeking to end homeless camping on public property advances to the Senate

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - A bill proposed by Republican Senator Carden Summers aims to keep homeless people from camping on public property in Georgia.

On Monday, The Senate State and Local Government Operations Committee in the Georgia Senate voted 4 to 3 to advance Senate Bill 62.

Some say there are several ways to look at its potential effects.

“We don’t want people to be homeless period. Let’s look at the underlying causes of why they’re homeless. And if they get these camp locations, let’s figure some of those things out so we can get these people being very productive citizens again,” State Representative for District 177 Dexter Sharper said.

A business owner in Downtown Albany says the bill sounds like it could tackle the homeless camp problem in Dougherty County, but it also raises several red flags.

“As a business owner, it does sound like a good thing, but there’s just so many other questions that come along with that, that concern me.” Kwambee Dorsey, a Downtown Albany business owner, said. “Safety, cleanliness, how far is it away from a living community? I think it’ll be great, it’s just a lot more questions and concerns that I would have.”

Sharper says there are good ideas surrounding this bill. But there also could be some unintended consequences.

“If they hear about certain camp locations available in the state of Georgia, you’re going to have neighboring states of people, a lot of more homeless people, that are going to be coming to our area,” Sharper said. “Alcohol abuse, drug abuse, mental health is a lot of things you’re going to have if you’ve got 50 to 100 people on a camp location.”

Senate Bill 62 has been sent to the full Senate for further debate and could be voted on before the end of the legislative session in April.

Copyright 2023 WALB. All rights reserved.