OLYMPIA — City and county governments across Washington would lose some ability to restrict church-hosted homeless camps under a bill members of the House of Representatives passed Friday.
The measure, which passed with bipartisan support on a 56-42 vote, would allow places of worship to host encampments for at least eight months of the year, though local governments could prohibit camps from lasting longer. Towns, cities and counties would be able to limit the camps to lasting only four months at a time, and require a buffer of up to three months between each encampment.
“It’s good for our community,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Joan McBride, D-Kirkland. “It respects our religious institutions — synagogues, mosques, fellowship halls, churches — that need, and must, and through history have been able to provide sanctuary for those in need.”
The bill follows several years of local governments separately making laws that have given Washington an uneven legal landscape for the “tent cities” of homeless that some churches and towns welcome. There are six such encampments in King County, and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray this year proposed a plan to allow three new one-year tent camps for up to 100 people on city property. Other places have tried to establish restrictions by citing health and safety concerns, though the state Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that Woodinville had obstructed a church’s freedom of religion when it refused to consider an application for a homeless camp.
