A Senate committee Monday backed a proposal that would prevent counties and cities from allowing people to sleep or camp on public property without permits.
Bill sponsor Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, called his proposal (SB 1530) a way to address a mental-health crisis in the state and to assist the “chronically homeless.”
“The current situation does not work,” Martin said. “If we sit around and do nothing, if this bill fails, and we come back next year and try to do something, and we do nothing for another year, it’s gonna be even worse next year.”
The Republican-controlled Senate Community Affairs Committee approved the bill along party lines. A similar House bill (HB 1365) also started moving forward last week.
The Senate proposal would allow local governments to designate certain public property for sleeping or camping if they meet standards set by the Florida Department of Children and Families. The proposal said any designated area couldn’t “adversely and materially” affect residential or commercial properties. Also, the bill would encourage people and businesses to file lawsuits if local governments don’t follow the proposed rules.
Democrats and some advocates for homeless people expressed concerns that wording in the bill is vague about permits. Also, they said people who fall asleep while tanning on the beach or waiting at a bus stop could be found in violation and raised concerns about the financial impact on local governments.
“A municipality’s alternative to raiding public camping areas under this bill is to fund the sites with 24-hour security and mental-health and substance-abuse resources, as well as ensure they don’t negatively affect surrounding property values or else be sued by any business or individual,” said Carrie Feit, senior attorney at the Community Justice Project, which represents renters in Miami-Dade County facing eviction and homelessness.
Sen. Rosalind Osgood, D-Fort Lauderdale, recalled a time when she was working but homeless and preferred sleeping in her car than going to a homeless camp “out of fear of being raped.”
“It can’t be our reaction (that) we’re going to just put laws in place and they (homeless people) are going to go away,” Osgood said. “They’re not going to go away until we deal with the root cause. And a lot of it starts with us humanizing people.”
Sen. Jason Pizzo, D-Sunny Isles Beach, said he’d prefer the proposal started as a pilot program in Lee County, which is Martin’s home county.
A Senate staff analysis said the bill doesn’t define the terms “sleeping,” “camping” or “permitting.”
“It is unclear whether the bill may interfere with existing local parks and recreation operations,” the analysis said. “While the bill contains an exception for states of emergency issued by the governor, it is unclear whether the bill may interfere with local emergency-management operations during scenarios that do not rise to a state of emergency, such as cold weather warnings.”
The Florida Association of Counties and the Florida League of Cities have not taken stances on the proposal.
The House Local Administration, Federal Affairs & Special Districts Subcommittee on Thursday approved the House version, sponsored by Rep. Sam Garrison, R-Fleming Island.
Both proposals must get approval from two additional panels before they could reach the Senate and House floors.
–Jim Turner, News Service of Florida
Randy Bentwick says
Why not just make it against the law to be homeless? That’s what republcans would do if you let them. Then we can lock them all up and they’ll get free room and board. Win. Win.
Robjr says
So they want to help the homeless by banning sleeping in public places, without strict conditions.
Then they will help the homeless by having them arrested if they sleep in a public place.
Next the judge will help them by either / or / and sentencing them to county jail or fining them, with the obligatory court costs.
And when the homeless can’t pay the monetary penalty an outstanding warrant will be issued so as to help them back into jail.
If this passes into law will it stand up to Constitutional scrutiny?
Deborah Coffey says
Oh, please. Who votes for these idiots? If homeless people aren’t sleeping in public places, they’ll be sleeping in everybody’s back yards! Why don’t these senators work on fixing the homeless problem? Oh, that would make too much sense.
RobertB says
I thought the SCOTUS rules 30-40 years ago against Miami that they could not criminalize homelessness and people sleeping in public areas? basically doing away with vagrancies laws…
Michael Cocchiola says
I think this bill just may be unconstitutional. The homeless have a constitutional right to sleep on private property.
“As long as there is no option of sleeping indoors, the government cannot criminalize indigent, homeless people for sleeping outdoors, on public property, on the false premise they had a choice in the matter,” Ronald E. Bush, Chief Magistrate Judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, said in the ruling.
So far, the U.S. Supreme Court has not overruled this decision. So either we let the homeless sleep without the threat of arrest or build homes and shelters… lots of them.
Vicki shepherd gilmore says
So how is this bill going to assist the homeless ? (SB 1530) Instead of running them out of sleeping areas, there needs to be working shelters built to actually help these individuals. They have No Where to Sleep… Every City needs to take care of their homeless and its not happening.
Criminalize Panhandling! says
I am not so concerned if they want to sleep in the woods around Highway on ramps and off ramps but got the love of god, Almost everyday a light goes green, everyone is trying to go and some damn fool decides to brake and give the homeless guy some change, causing everyone behind him to slam on their brakes, and miss the damn light. Some of us have jobs to get to! Particularly irritating is the guy on the median in front of the McDonalds on Old Kings and PCPkwy when you live in the woodlands this is a multiple times a day nuisance. Next local election that will be one of my questions to the “political tent city” outside the library! Im voting for whoever has a plan to criminalize panhandling and loitering in the center of an intersection.
Billy says
Palm coast going to look like Los Angeles in couple years.
Ban the gop says
Repubs think homeless are profitable to their donors of they are in prison. They don’t care about people, rights, or suffering its about money. Homelessness is only increasing across the country. Have to have a permit to sleep and that costs money sounds like a solid gop plan to resolve the crisis lol.