Georgia lawmakers seek solutions to homelessness after criminalization bill stalled

This week,, five metro Atlanta counties have announced plans to keep their warming centers open on Monday and several days within this week. (Joshua Silavent via Georgia Recorder)

A new state Senate study committee heard from nonprofit and state agencies at a daylong meeting across from the Capitol about a homelessness problem that’s been complicated by out-of-control housing costs, bureaucratic red tape and disagreements over the best ways to help.

Members of the Senate Study Committee on Unsheltered Homelessness say that they’ll take a multi-layered approach when they make their final report after being tasked with finding the best way to get rid all of the makeshift tents set up by the homeless around the downtown areas of Atlanta, Augusta, Savannah and other communities around the state.

State Sen. Carden Summers, who chairs the study committee, said the hearings will allow lawmakers to better incorporate input after he scrapped legislation during the 2022 legislative session that called for the state to impose misdemeanor offenses for camping on public property.