NASHVILLE (AP) - A proposal that seeks to prevent Occupy Nashville protesters from staying overnight on the plaza next to the state Capitol advanced in the House on Wednesday.
The measure sponsored by Republican Rep. Eric Watson of Cleveland was approved on a voice vote in the House Judiciary Subcommittee. The companion bill is awaiting a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The legislation would make it a misdemeanor to lay down "bedding for the purpose of sleeping." The proposal refers to items associated with camping, "including tents, portable toilets, sleeping bags, tarps, propane heaters, cooking equipment and generators."
The protesters have camped at the plaza since early October. There are about 60 or so tents on the plaza and at least two portable toilets nearby.
"They can stay out there all they want to, they just can't build anything that's a dwelling," Watson said after the vote.
He said the proposal is nec essary because of complaints of criminal activity and lewd behavior, including a couple last year having sex near his windows. He added that school groups usually visit the plaza and Capitol in the spring, but said some of those trips have been cancelled because of reports stemming from the encampment.
"I wouldn't want my kids coming up here either, taking a chance to see something they shouldn't see," he said.
Protester Eva Watler attended Wednesday's meeting and told reporters afterward that Watson's comments were exaggerated.
"The people of Occupy Nashville are ... compassionate activists who are trying to make this world better," she said. "They do not need to be vilified."
However, Rep. Jon Lundberg was among most of those on the committee who seemed pleased with the legislation.
"I think this very clearly gives them the right to protest and puts safeguards in," said the Bristol Republican, who visited with some of the protesters earlier in the day.
The bill comes several months after Gov. Bill Haslam's administration lost a legal battle over a curfew that was used to temporarily dislodge the encampment. The administration is currently following a judge's orders and promulgating rules for use of the plaza.
Safety Commissioner Bill Gibbons said lawmakers have the right to decide whether they want to change state law concerning use of the plaza, but the administration intends to proceed with promulgating rules.
"We're doing what the judge has told us to do," he said.
Watson said the state's attorney general has said the proposal is defensible. He said the measure is also based on language from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld a National Park Service regulation that prohibited camping in Layfayett Park and the Mall in Washington, D.C.