The Florida Senate passed a bill Tuesday designed to prevent homeless people from camping in public places without authorization from the state government, Click Orlando reported.
The measure was approved after a party that divided sharply on party lines of 27-12, according to the outlet. If passed into law, localities would reportedly be required to only allow homeless encampments at sites acceptable under standards established by Florida’s Department of Children and Families.
Florida set to ban homeless from sleeping on public property https://t.co/qqKn4b1PyD
— News 6 WKMG (@news6wkmg) March 6, 2024
Florida’s House of Representatives passed the bill last week and the legislation will go to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’s desk to sign, the outlet reported. Gov. DeSantis has reportedly expressed his support for the bill. (RELATED: State Reportedly Moves To Raise Minimum Age For Strippers Despite Democratic Concerns)
The governor previously said he did not want “Sodom and Gomorrah” type homeless encampments on Florida’s streets but added that addressing the mental health problem for homeless persons was “important,” Florida Politics reported.
“It can’t just be some site that is like Sodom and Gomorrah where they’re using drugs and doing all this stuff. It needs to be a situation where help is available,” the governor reportedly said.
The governor has suggested bringing back the practice of institutionalization, according to Florida Politics.
“Insufficient shelter beds and insufficient permanent housing solutions result in unsheltered sleeping and camping in public places,” Florida Republican Sen. Jonathan Martin, a sponsor of the bill, stated, Click Orlando reported. “The bill is a compassionate response to the shortage of shelters and supportive housing by providing an alternative to sleeping in the streets.”
Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book remarked that the bill had too many issues, “no answers” to particular logistical problems and was not “the way to” properly address the homelessness question, Florida Politics reported. Book reportedly asked if the bill addressed whether animals would be permitted in these camps, to which Senator Martin answered that it left that up to further legislation.
The bill, if it becomes law, would take effect on Oct. 1, 2024, according to the legislature.