Eden Village sues state over homeless provision in bill

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The Gathering Tree, dba Eden Village, sued the state over a bill with a provision that nonprofit officials say harms organizations that help homeless people.

The Aug. 19 lawsuit, which names the state and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt as defendants, takes issue with House Bill 1606, according to a news release. Signed by Gov. Mike Parson on June 29, the bill is slated to take effect Aug. 28.

"Among the hundreds of pages in this bill is a section, totally unrelated to most of the bill, which threatens to hinder the work of organizations assisting Missouri’s homeless community," officials said in the release. "A small section of this bill’s provisions change the landscape by which organizations in this state are deemed eligible to receive funds for the support of the unsheltered."

The bill, according to the release, requires state and federal funds for the homeless to only be used for shelters in parking and camping areas, as well as temporary, individual and congregate shelters.

"Failure to meet these new government mandates threatens to prevent organizations, especially those providing permanent shelter, from receiving assistance through the federal and state government," officials said in the release.

Eden Village has developed two tiny-home communities for the homeless in Springfield with a third on the way, according to past reporting.

Eden Village, which is represented in the suit by Springfield law firm Hall Ansley PC, is seeking to block enforcement of the bill, according to the release. The bill additionally increases criminal penalties for the homeless, making it a Class C misdemeanor for sleeping or camping on state land, and it gives the attorney general's office the power to enforce local ordinances regarding homeless people's presence on sidewalks and streets, Eden Village officials say.

HB 1606, which starts with salary adjustments and political subdivisions, first mentions the homeless provision on the 20th page of the bill.

A spokesperson for Parson’s office declined to comment, citing a policy on pending litigation.