Vendor Writing

The Tennessee Legislature: JOB KILLERS

HB0978 Sponsor: Ryan Williams R-Cookeville SB1610 Sponsor: Paul Bailey R-District 15

BY JEN A.

The Tennessee House has passed legislation that will profoundly limit my ability to make a living. I am a vendor of The Contributor and am fortunate enough to have a small room in public housing. Should I lose my job, and yes it is a job, I will be unable to pay my rent and will be forced into homelessness once again. HB0978/ SB1610 not only kills my job, but it makes homelessness a crime. No matter which way you look at it, I am left vulnerable and exposed to harm by the blind thoughtlessness of our legislature.

Homelessness is not a disease of the unhoused. It’s a social construct perpetrated by the powerful against the poor. Many of those who are forced to live on the street have jobs. However their jobs don’t pay enough to enable them to afford ever-escalating rents. The minimum wage in Tennessee is $7.25 an hour. I would challenge the members of the legislature to exist for just a week in Tennessee at that wage. Surely it would be of better benefit to Tennesseans to increase the minimum wage rather than to criminalize poverty.

Another key cause of homelessness in Tennessee stems directly from another hard-hearted decision made by the Tennessee legislature; their refusal to expand Medicaid to the working poor. Many of the homeless suffer from chronic or catastrophic illnesses. Faced with the hard choice of whether to pay rent or to use what little money they have for life-saving or sustaining medical treatment, they choose to fight for their lives. The homeless are heroes who are largely dismissed and vilified by the well-healed. Homelessness could be greatly reduced by the stroke of a pen at the Capitol rather than by criminalizing suffering.

To propose this legislation at this particular time is doubly troubling. Have legislators forgotten that there is a killer virus in our midst? Landlords are, as I write, preparing the paperwork to evict those who have not been able to pay their rent because their jobs aren’t there anymore. Homelessness in the state will increase exponentially. Surely the time of our legislature would be better spent thinking of ways to keep everyone whole and in their homes instead of criminalizing homelessness.

Judging by the bills offered so far by the current legislature, it is clear that their intent is not to heal the wounds of the citizens of Tennessee, but rather to demonize and persecute the least among us. There isn’t a minority group in the nation that they have not proposed legislation to marginalize. The same ridiculous discriminatory laws are being passed by Republican legislatures across the country. Is there no Republican in the country with an original thought? Wouldn’t it be refreshing if the legislature acted for the common good? For those of us forced to the margins of society, it would be a welcome respite.

Where are the churches we here in Tennessee are so proud of? Why have you not raised your voices and used your significant sway against the cruelty of the legislature? Isn’t it time to do a better job of protecting ALL God’s children from the narrow-mindedness of the few? Where are those businesses and corporations willing to stand up to the thoughtless idiology of our lawmakers? Stand up for us Tennessee! Put your religious and civic principles to work for all of us! The powerless are counting on you to save our lives and our livelihoods!

HB0978/SB1610

BY VICKY B.

I can honestly say that prior to three weeks ago I had no clue what these numbers meant, but now I know just how much this would affect my life.

The Tennessee State Legislature is trying to pass HB0978/SB1610, a bill that would make solicitation or camping on any state property, interstate highway or under a bridge a misdemeanor. Let that sink in a bit. A misdemeanor. It would also make vending along the roadway a misdemeanor as well.

Many know my story. Many know that I got into housing because of the money I made from selling The Contributor and writing. I made income from my sales that provided me with an income statement, which allowed me to get into affordable housing. See how that all worked together? If I hadn’t been selling The Contributor newspaper, I never would have gotten into affordable housing, ending my homelessness, because of The Contributor. Could I have done it without The Contributor? NO! I’m going through the disability process and am unable to work a “regular” job. The Contributor has allowed me to make a small income through a business of my own. I make my own hours, I document my inventory, and I budget my money. Sounds like a real job to me.

If this bill is passed, every vendor of The Contributor would be in jeopardy of losing their housing. I would lose my housing. A goal of housing that many have worked so hard to achieve. A home/apartment is like the Emmy’s of homelessness. This is scary territory for me. I could lose my housing. I could be back on the streets. For so many who are recently housed it would be devastating to have to walk away from years of hard work just because the people that represent us would rather criminalize us.

Please don’t make being homeless a crime.

A Vendors Perspective to Senate Bill HBO978/SB1610

BY NORMA B.

It has recently come to my attention that the bill that seeks to criminalize homelessness known as HBO978/SB1610 could also potentially bring an end to The Contributor.

In my opinion, this would be a mistake as it would not only devastate the many vendors of the paper, but it would also be detrimental to the community we serve.

For the vendor, it would surely cause economic challenges that we continually work hard to rise above on a regular basis. But more than that, it would shatter the vendor’s relationships with their customers — something we strive to establish, maintain, and build on.

Our customers have come to know us. They look for us at our selling locations and actually worry about us when we’re not there. (I’ve experienced this first hand at the grocery store, the post office, and nearly everywhere I go in my community and the surrounding area.)

As a result, our customers have become part of our “extended family,” something many in the homeless community don’t have whether by choice or by circumstance. What gives you the right to take that away from us and them?

Something else to keep in mind is vendors of The Contributor ARE NOT simply standing on the side of the road begging for money. We are offering informative and useful products in the form of 1) The Paper, 2) Hand Sanitizers, and 3) Face Masks in exchange for reimbursement. (In my case, this can be in the form of money, food, drink, clothing etc.) Since when have good old-fashioned sales been illegal in this country? No matter where they take place.

I read that this bill was brought about as a means to increase public safety. If that’s true, how will that be brought about by the passage of this bill? PLEASE BE SPECIFIC, because I guarantee our vendors can give you very specific ways they benefit from the paper, and it’s far more than just the money.

If you are truly concerned with public safety, why not strive to put an end to things that truly pose a threat to public safety?

These things affect the rich as well as the economically challenged. They DO NOT discriminate as this bill obviously does.

In contrast, the homeless pose no such threat; they are merely trying to survive, something that has been made even more difficult with the outbreak of COVID-19.

Maybe you think vendors of The Contributor have it easy standing out there attempting to sell the paper. Let me assure you this IS NOT the case. If you need proof, I would invite you to my corner to see for yourself — especially in the extreme heat or cold or during our ever changing Tennessee weather.

Before passing this bill, I would like to ask each one of you: What would you do if you found yourself unemployed and homeless? What if someone you know and love were to find themselves in such a predicament? Would you be so willing and eager to pass this bill then? BE HONEST! Would you not desire a program that would welcome you with open arms and actually help you get back on your feet? If so, I urge you NOT to pass this bill.

Rather than increase the population of already overcrowded jails with homeless or indigent individuals, penalizing them for something that is often beyond their control, why not ask yourselves what can you do to eliminate homelessness from our society?

True, answers WILL NOT be easy or inexpensive, but they will be worth the investment to both those who are assisted as well as to their communities as a whole, just as The Contributor is.

Please DO NOT become a part of this problem plaguing our society, instead let’s work together to find a solution that’s beneficial for all concerned.

Please DO NOT become a party to those who would silence the free speech contained in The Contributor a voice for those who are often ignored and underserved by those who are meant to serve ALL in the community equally without regard to their economic standing-something that NOT being done with the passage of this bill, in this writer’s opinion.