Public Rejected It. Cicero Rewrote It. Lawmakers Passed It Anyway.
The voters didn’t want this. Lobbyists stood in staunch opposition. Even conservative-leaning politicians thought this piece of anti-homeless legislation was a step in the wrong direction. Yet, the technically dead Indiana-based House Bill 1662 reemerged with slightly different wording and was quietly passed through a last-minute, closed-door exchange. Read on to find out why Senate Bill 197 became law even though voters did not support it.
The Cicero Institute is Quietly Fueling Anti-Homeless Legislation Nationwide
Affordable housing is a scarce resource slowly edging out of existence. As housing costs outpace wages and economic pressures grow, homelessness has surged to historic levels.
Homelessness has increased to record-breaking proportions. Even the most conservative counts reveal a devastating uptick. For example, the most recent point-in-time count reveals an 18% increase in visible homelessness, with volunteers witnessing nearly three-quarters of a million people sleeping outside on three of the coldest nights of the year. This is not to mention the millions of uncounted people surfing sofas and switching hotel rooms night after night, nor does it reflect the millions of unstably housed young people who can’t afford to move out of their parents’ homes.
In response to the undeniable emergency, the American people are demanding solutions. Instead of addressing the affordable housing crisis, lawmakers are pushing criminal penalties that punish people for being poor. As anti-homeless legislation continues to prove costly and ineffective, voters are growing increasingly wary of laws that take such a punitive approach.
Unfortunately for the American public, the Cicero Institute, a conservative think tank founded by a Silicon Valley billionaire, is pushing last-minute anti-homeless policies through the back door and getting away with it. The group has drafted dozens of near-identical laws aimed at criminalizing homelessness across the country, often using template language that encourages punitive enforcement over housing solutions.
This raises questions about the future of housing and public policy and how much say US citizens will have in both.
Indiana Timeline: House Bill 1662 Is Introduced and Rejected
In February 2025, the Cicero Institute advanced House Bill 1662 for a third reading. The bill mirrored Cicero’s template legislation seen in Iowa and other states, with only slight wording changes. Its key features included:
- Camping prohibitions that feature strict punishments, including prison time and the destruction of homeless people’s personal possessions
- Obliging police to strictly enforce these laws, even when shelter beds are unavailable
- Making life-sustaining activities for homeless people illegal and punishable as a Class C Misdemeanor if such activities are performed in public
- Criminalizing necessary actions such as sleeping, camping, or storing personal belongings
Despite Cicero’s push, the public pushed back harder. Hundreds of Prosperity Indiana members, Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition partners, and concerned residents voiced strong opposition. The bill was declared dead on February 20, 2025. Prosperity Indiana issued a statement of “cautious celebration” but warned:
“While House Bill 1662 is no longer in play as a standalone bill, it is likely that the lobbyists fighting for the legislation will work to find another bill that the language can be inserted into via an amendment,” said the source in a prognosticating statement.
As Predicted, The Policy Resurfaces in an Unrelated Bill About Unsafe Buildings
On April 14, 2025, Indiana House Republicans approved Senate Bill 197, a bill originally focused on building safety. But at the last minute, lawmakers inserted language nearly identical to HB 1662. The summary of the original bill reads verbatim as follows:
“Synopsis: Unsafe building law. Requires that the instructions for requesting a hearing on an order relating to an unsafe premises: (1) be printed in at least 12 point font; and (2) be placed in a conspicuous location on the order. Requires a hearing to be conducted when a civil penalty is imposed unless the property owner waives the hearing in writing. Prohibits a civil penalty for an unsafe premises from being included on a property tax statement. Provides that a civil penalty shall be waived if the property subject to the order was sold to a third party that renovates the property and meets certain conditions.”
There was no mention of homelessness. No mention of criminal penalties for sleeping outside. But quietly and quickly, the amended version passed with little time for public input.
Andrew Bradley, the Senior Director of Policy and Strategy for Prosperity Indiana, told Invisible People that advocates were “scrambling to try to get that Class C Misdemeanor removed.”
Those efforts were dashed. In an exasperated statement to the public, The Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition responded with frustration:
“This approach ties the hands of local jurisdictions to do what they need to do to effectively address unsheltered homelessness. Failing to allow public testimony on this bill rejects the Hoosier value of transparency.”
The final version of SB 197 now mandates law enforcement to issue Class C misdemeanors and fines to unhoused people for engaging in life-sustaining activities in public.
Some senators were even unaware of the amendment. Though the bill officially bears the name of Rep. Andrew Ireland, its language strongly echoes Cicero’s signature copy-paste approach.
Talk to Your Legislators About Rejecting Punitive, Anti-Homeless Legislation
These anti-homeless laws are harmful, costly, and cruel, but they are also reflective of a broader trend, where the public’s opinion is pushed to the side and shadow lobbies make the important deals in the dark. There was a time when public opinion was used to shape political policy. Now, this is happening the other way around. Don’t let the tables turn against the voters. Talk to your legislators about rejecting policies the public does not support, like laws that make being homeless a crime.
