Florida lawmakers OK new restrictions on homeless, send measure to Gov. DeSantis

Florida lawmakers Tuesday approved banning cities and counties from allowing homeless people to camp or sleep on public property, a measure opposed by many Democrats but a priority of Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The legislation is among several bills advancing this session that take decision-making authority away from local governments, many more liberal-leaning than Florida’s Republican-dominated Legislature. It now goes to DeSantis, who is expected to sign the measure (HB 1365) into law.

The Senate's 27-12 vote, divided along party lines, came after the House advanced the measure last week – also with Republicans driving the issue. Along with banning the unhoused from claiming spots on city streets and parks, local governments would be urged to create designated homeless camps, with security, sanitation and access to mental health services.

The legislation provides no direct funding for local governments to enact the changes ordered. But the Senate sponsor – Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers – said that $30 million in mental health funding in the state's proposed budget is among the dollars cities and counties may tap.

"We as a Legislature are doing our part to right the ship and provide housing safety and services for our homeless population of Florida," Martin said. "It's my hope that, with the passage of this bill, local governments will step up and do the right thing to address the homeless crisis in their own communities with the tools this bill provides."

But opponents were skeptical: "More harm than good will result from this legislation," said Sen. Victor Torres, D-Orlando.

Sen. Jason Pizzo, D-North Miami Beach, condemned the measure. "This is just taking people off the street that are a nuisance ... it's a round-em-up, paddy-wagon kind of situation," he told colleagues.

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Conservative think tank, others behind bill

The conservative, Texas-based Cicero Institute, a policy research group, has been advocating for states to adopt such restrictions.

Republican megadonor and billionaire tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel has promoted the idea, along with Joe Lonsdale, a tech investor who hosted a Texas fundraiser for DeSantis during his now-suspended presidential campaign.

Critics have complained the legislation unfairly targets a vulnerable population and put new limits on cities and counties struggling to deal with a homeless problem. It includes no penalties for the living on the streets, but the measure allows local residents, businesses and Attorney General Ashley Moody to sue local governments that don’t follow the restrictions.

DeSantis made a pitch in Miami Beach last month for the crackdown, standing at a podium bearing a placard, “Don’t Allow Florida To Become San Francisco.”

The nation’s biggest politically blue state, California, was hit hard by DeSantis. “You can go to Los Angeles and tent cities are everywhere,” DeSantis said.

Senate President Kathleen Passidomo told reporters earlier in the day there had been "a lot of misunderstanding, maybe misplaced concern" about the bill.

"I've traveled all over this country and it's really troublesome when you go to cities that seem to have more and more homeless people living under bridges, on the streets, in front of buildings. ... We even have a few here in Tallahassee. It breaks my heart to see people have to live like that,” she said. "We've got to do something to help them."

John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at [email protected], or on Twitter at @JKennedyReport.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Restrictions on homeless, sought by DeSantis, approved by lawmakers