Pramila Jayapal’s ‘Housing Not Handcuffs’ bill would nationalize Seattle’s homeless crisis

[mountaineer]

Rantz: Pramila Jayapal’s ‘Housing Not Handcuffs’ bill would nationalize Seattle’s homeless crisis
Jul 8, 2025, 5:01 AM
Jason Rantz

Seattle Congresswoman and Squad grandmother Pramila Jayapal introduced legislation that would bring Seattle’s failed homelessness policy nationwide. She’s counting on left-wing media to pretend her idea is a good one. We should quash that notion immediately.

There’s a certain kind of progressive politician who excels at performance art. They introduce radical legislation they know has zero chance of passing, not to solve a problem but to signal their unwavering commitment to a fringe activist base. Jayapal is a master of this craft, and her latest “masterpiece” is the “Housing Not Handcuffs Act of 2025.” It is a perfect example of frivolous, dangerous virtue signaling that reminds us that she’s a completely unserious lawmaker.  ...

The bill would legalize homeless encampments nationwide

The bill prohibits any federal agency from imposing a penalty on a homeless person for engaging in “life-sustaining activities” on “public land.” Sounds reasonable until you read the definitions. The bill defines “life-sustaining activities” as including “moving, resting, sitting, standing, lying down, sleeping, protecting oneself and personal property from the elements, eating, and drinking.”

In other words: setting up a permanent, sprawling encampment would be legalized on federal land. It would include dangerous, broken-down RVs that homeless people live out of.

And where can these encampments be established? The bill’s definition of “public land” is so expansive it’s almost comical. It includes “plazas, courtyards, parking lots, sidewalks, public transportation facilities and services, public buildings, underpasses and lands adjacent to roadways, and parks.” Your local post office parking lot? Fair game.   ...

(emphasis added)

Read full article at My Northwest

[DefiantMassRINO]

Housing, alone, will not fix the homeless problem.

Persons become homeless for a variety of reasons or a combination of issues:

- mental illness
- substance abuse disorder
- illness
- domestic abuse
- job loss
- criminal hiding from the law
- illegal immigration
- illiteracy
- learning disability

Throwing houses at them will provide them temporary shelter until their other issues force them back onto the streets.

Encampments or shanty towns are admissions that government, society, and families are failing, and they have given up on those most in need of help.  These places devolve into a Sodom and Gomorrah of abuse, exploitation, and crime.

Pramila Jayapal is exhibiting apathy and indifference, not compassion, for those on the margins of society.

[mountaineer]

Pramila Jayapal is exhibiting apathy and indifference, not compassion, for those on the margins of society.

You've described many a politician.

[berdie]

A lot of people actually prefer that life style. They like the freedom and as has been mentioned before there are mental and substance issues.

Wouldn't be my cup of tea. Fear tends to be detrimental to my health.