The state is cracking down on aggressive begging. On Tuesday, House lawmakers approved two bills allowing people to be fined for aggressive panhandling.
"We're at a point where in some cases just saying no is apparently not good enough, so we have to create some reasonable boundaries," said Rep. Kurt Heise, (R-Plymouth Township).
Under the proposed bills, panhandlers could face a civil infraction if they're acting aggressively. That includes continuing to beg from someone who said no and intentionally blocking someone's way.
"We have to strike a balance between the rights of the panhandler and the rights of the person who's being panhandled," Rep. Heise added.
The American Civil Liberties Union is opposed to the bills, saying it casts panhandlers as criminals.
"This just criminalizes people and makes poor people the targets of police officers," said ACLU Legislative Liasion Shelli Weisberg.
Weisberg says current laws and statues could deal with aggressive panhandler and she's concerned a fine will just lead to more problems.
"If you're poor you probably can't access the courts and you wouldn't have the ability to fight that and then that leads to more issues," Weisberg said.
In Lansing, the city already has it's own aggressive panhandling ordinance that police enforce.
"We're not out to harass people who are downtrodden, but we also don't want people harassed, we don't want people followed," said Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero.
But Bernero says lawmakers should be doing more than putting a band-aid on the problem.
"Frankly a big help the legislature could do would be to fund mental health and put in something specific for homelessness," Bernero said.
The mayor is also considering requiring a license for panhandling, but says his office is in the early stages of looking into that.
The two bills are now on the House floor. Stick with Fox 47 News for updates if there's a vote.
