panhandling

The new law aimed to prohibit people from requesting money within 50 feet of sites such as ATMs, business and restaurant entrances, public monuments or the location of a financial transaction, which includes parking meters.

The new state law would make it a misdemeanor to ask for money within 50 feet of any place where financial transactions are made, including parking meters.

A bill that further criminalizes panhandling awaits the Governors signature.

Panhandling is already illegal in Indiana under certain circumstances -- like near an ATM. The measure before state lawmakers would add that people may not solicit money within 50 feet of any place that makes financial transactions.

Republican Minority Leader Michael McQuillen, who authored the ordinance, voted to take it off the agenda. No one on the council objected.

Half of the funding is planned to help increase police presence downtown, a direct response to what the mayor and others call "aggressive panhandling."

The ordinance prohibits anyone in the Mile Square - the area around Monument Circle - from sitting or lying down on a public pathway between 6 a.m. and midnight.

An ordinance moving through the Indianapolis City-County Council hopes to address panhandling issues in the downtown area, and it's uncovered deep-seated disagreements about how to handle such a complicated issue.

The councilors behind the proposal say it's meant to address aggressive panhandling. Some who oppose it say it criminalizes homelessness.

WFYI's Drew Daudelin sat down with Matthew Morton, a researcher on youth homelessness, to talk about traditional approaches to homelessness and what new research tells him about how it could change.