Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility Sen. Saval and Rep. Smith-Wade-El announce legislation to end the criminalization of homelessness

Sen. Saval and Rep. Smith-Wade-El announce legislation to end the criminalization of homelessness

Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus    October 9, 2025 | 9:21 AM

HARRISBURG, Oct. 9 – With World Homeless Day being recognized tomorrow, state Sen. Nikil Saval, D-Phila., and state Rep. Ismail Smith-Wade-El, D-Lancaster, announced plans to introduce companion legislation in the Pennsylvania Senate and House that would decriminalize homelessness across the commonwealth.

World Homeless Day, observed annually on Oct. 10, aims to raise awareness about homelessness and encourage people to come together to help the unhoused in their communities. 

Saval’s and Smith-Wade-El’s Shelter First Act legislation would allow people experiencing homelessness to conduct life-sustaining activity in public spaces when no reasonable, alternative options for housing are offered or available. Municipalities would be required to provide adequate indoor spaces for people experiencing homelessness before the municipality could enforce any ordinance that would criminalize living outside.

“Criminalizing individuals or families for being homeless condemns the unhoused to an unending cycle of heavy fines, arrests and incarceration, perpetuating their poverty and exacerbating the larger social crisis,” said Smith-Wade-El. “We’ve introduced the Shelter First Act in a fierce rejection of the denigration of the unhoused and a profound belief that our communities are stronger and safer when everyone’s dignity and rights --including their right to a place to place to sleep -- are respected.”

“The hardships experienced by people who are unsheltered are compounded when the only response of their government is to criminalize and penalize them,” said Saval. “When we consider how to support our neighbors and prevent homelessness, we find that the most compassionate solutions are both the simplest and the most effective: shelter first.”

The legislation addresses the fallout from the United States Supreme Court ruling in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson (2024), which held that a city ordinance criminalizing involuntarily unhoused people who set up encampments on public property does not violate the Eighth Amendment’s Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause. This punishing decision criminalized the over 770,000 homeless people living in the United States simply for being poor and unable to afford housing costs.

Since the June 2024 Supreme Court decision, cities nationwide have introduced 320 bills criminalizing unhoused people, nearly 220 of which have passed. In July 2025, President Trump issued an executive order calling for the long-term incarceration of homeless people.

Smith-Wade-El will join Water Street Mission President Jack Crowley at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow (Friday) at 131 S. Prince St. in Lancaster to talk about homelessness. Crowley will be sitting on a bench for 24 hours to raise awareness of homelessness and to encourage action to address the needs of Lancaster’s homeless people, such as through donations to the Lancaster County Food Hub.

The full text of Saval’s co-sponsorship memo can be viewed here.

The full text of Smith-Wade-El’s co-sponsorship memo can be viewed here.