DeSantis wants to combat public homelessness with use of tougher legislation
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is endorsing a push by the Legislature to crack down on public homelessness, saying during a press conference Monday that he wants to “prohibit camping on all city streets, sidewalks and parks.”
“We just can’t live like that in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said while standing at a lectern with a sign reading “Don’t Allow Florida to Become San Francisco.”
DeSantis added that he is “open to providing financial support” to local governments for sheltering the homeless and providing them treatment for mental health problems and substance abuse.
Many communities in Florida have spent decades grappling with how to handle their homeless populations.
Critics of outlawing activities engaged in by some homeless individuals, such as sleeping in public, say there are more compassionate approaches.
U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Jeff Olivet wrote last year that “criminalizing homeless is becoming more common” and argued that such laws are “ineffective, expensive, and actually worsen the tragedy of homelessness.”
“There is a better way to respond to this crisis,” wrote Olivet, whose agency is charged with leading the federal response to homelessness.
Leon County commissioners, for example, last year tried a different tack: Launching a road sign campaign to discourage drivers from directly donating money to people standing on the sides of roadways.
DeSantis argued his approach would be a “win-win for everybody.”
“I think this is the right approach,” he said. “I think it’s an approach that puts the residents of Florida first and foremost in their quality of life, but also is compassionate, and understanding that there are some serious issues that are at play in our society that drive some of this.”
Bills are moving through the Florida House and Senate this legislative session that target homelessness.
DeSantis didn’t highlight an individual bill, saying he doesn’t know that the Legislature “has a product that’s final that’s going to pass muster quite yet,” but, at the same appearance, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass praised (HB 1365), saying it would make “all our citizens safer.”
That legislation would preempt local government authority and prohibit cities and counties from authorizing or permitting “public sleeping or public camping on public property, public buildings, or public rights-of-way within the county’s jurisdiction without a lawfully issued temporary permit.” The legislation is sponsored by Republican Rep. Sam Garrison, who is in line to be House speaker.