Texas is grappling with a devastating homelessness crisis—but new legislation can finally hold local governments accountable for their deliberate inaction.
Like in many areas of the nation, the homelessness crisis in Texas has led to a spike in crime, public health and safety concerns, and increased economic strain on law-abiding businesses and property owners. Local governments often make a deliberate decision to not enforce laws related to homelessness, leaving property owners to pay the price for a crisis that they didn’t create.
Now, Texas can pass legislation to give property and business owners just compensation from a government whose failure to safeguard their rights has turned their lives upside down. The Safe Neighborhoods Act—SB 2489 and HB 4943, sponsored by Senator Tan Parker and Rep. Daniel Alders, respectively—allows property owners to file a claim for compensation from local governments if their property value is diminished or they incur reasonable mitigation costs due to a locality’s deliberate failure to enforce laws related to the homelessness crisis.
It’s a simple concept: residents pay taxes to local governments every year in exchange for basic services that ensure public safety and the protection of property. When a locality intentionally fails to provide those services and property owners suffer harm as a result, those law-abiding citizens should have recourse against the locality for violating its duty to its residents.
This legislation is modeled after Arizona’s Prop 312, a first-in-the-nation reform developed by the Goldwater Institute. Prop 312 is already forcing action on homelessness, with cities across the Grand Canyon State either establishing new urban camping bans or taking steps toward strictly enforcing existing laws. Arizona localities are now proactively addressing unchecked homeless encampments, lessening the need for property owners to file a claim under the reform. There’s no doubt similar reform would have the same impact in Texas.
In Austin, the local government has been destroying the city with progressive policies that allow homelessness to grow unchecked. Under District Attorney José Garza, the DA’s office has stopped prosecuting serious crimes – indeed, charges dropped underneath under his leadership have increased by around 50 percent.
Moreover, the city council’s progressive policies have exacerbated a sweeping homeless crisis in Austin. Open fires regularly blaze next to residential communities, and Austin businesses are constantly dealing with homeless individuals in the downtown area due to the local government’s inaction on the issue. Recently, residents in South Austin have been forced to cope with open drug use, crime and dangerous homeless encampments in their neighborhoods.
One resident noted “I have probably called a dozen times, but I probably should have called 40 times…. There was fire and police because we had an overdose on the street and that is becoming essentially a weekly thing here.”
Unless Texas lawmakers intervene, local officials in Austin will continue to allow unchecked homelessness to continue, harming property and business owners in the process.
Texas must take bold action to address the failures of local governments that refuse to enforce the law. By following Arizona’s lead and adopting reforms like Prop 312, Texas can hold municipalities accountable while ensuring property owners are not left to bear the financial burden of government negligence. A strong state-level policy would not only deter cities from allowing lawlessness to fester but also provide necessary incentives for local officials to protect public safety and property rights.
Texans deserve leaders who will prioritize the rule of law over radical, soft-on-crime local policies that allow homeless encampments to grow unchecked. By enacting SB 2489 and HB 4943, Texas can restore order to its cities, protect businesses and homeowners, and set a national standard for addressing the homelessness crisis with both compassion and accountability.
Brian Norman is the Director of State Affairs at the Goldwater Institute.
