Republican Sen. Rand Paul spoke about inflation, veteran support, mental health and homelessness during a visit to western Kentucky on Monday that included stops in Hopkinsville, Grand Rivers, Madisonville and Murray.
Speaking to a group at Murray State University, Paul advocated for making it illegal for people to sleep on the streets.
The conservative senator said a lot of federal dollars have been spent trying to address the nation’s growing mental health problem, especially among people experiencing homelessness.
However, he argued that this funding has not been used to address the “fundamental problem” of getting people off of the streets and receiving mental health treatment, and said it would take “outside the box” solutions to address the issue.
The Kentucky senator said while he cares about homeless people, there also needs to be punishment for sleeping somewhere they’re not supposed to.
“I don't think you have a right to sleep on someone's doorstep. And it sounds bad. I'm not going to put you in a maximum security prison, but I probably would pick you up and tell you you got to sleep in the shelter,” Paul said.
The Safer Kentucky Act – which the GOP-dominated state legislature passed earlier this month by overriding Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto – bans street camping in the Commonwealth.
The U.S. Supreme Court also heard arguments Monday on whether people can be punished for sleeping outside if there’s no shelter available.
Paul also spoke about the impacts inflation is having on Kentucky families. He argued that the national debt – at more than $34.5 trillion – along with federal budget deficits, plays a role in what families can afford.
“When you go to the grocery store, you see the price of meat, you see the price of beef, chicken, all these things, the price is going up, because the value of your dollar is shrinking. The value of your dollar is shrinking, because we run a trillion-dollar deficit every year,” Paul said.
The Kentucky senator argued that if the federal government’s budget deficit keeps growing, it could endanger the U-S dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency.
He suggested cutting the budgets for every federal agency by 1%, a move he said would put the federal government on track to running a balanced budget.