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Florida Gov. DeSantis signs bill banning homeless from sleeping in public

People have set up tents in a small homeless encampment in the Park and Ride parking lot off Broward Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a controversial bill Wednesday that forbids homeless people from sleeping in public places and prevents local governments from allowing them to stay there unless the state authorizes them to do so. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun-Sentinel/TNS)
By Shira Moolten South Florida Sun Sentinel South Florida Sun Sentinel

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a controversial bill Wednesday that forbids homeless people from sleeping in public places and prevents local governments from allowing them to stay there unless the state authorizes them to do so.

The governor was joined at a news conference announcing the signing by local South Florida leaders and representatives at Santorini by Georgio’s in Miami Beach. Several compared the issue of homelessness to Spring Break, emphasizing the need for law and order to protect residents and businesses and praising the effectiveness of Miami Beach’s crackdown on visitors this year.

“Ultimately the issue with Spring Break plays into the issue of these homeless encampments,” DeSantis said. “We have to govern this state and our communities with an eye towards what’s in the best interest of the law-abiding citizen … too often people in other states, other cities, they’re not doing well. It’s like they let the inmates run the asylum.”

The bill, HB 1365, prohibits local counties or cities from allowing people to camp or sleep on public property. It allows a county to designate specific areas for homeless encampments but requires them to be certified by the Department of Children and Families, and requires that they operate for no longer than a year.

Critics have argued that the bill focuses on removing homeless people from the streets but does not address the underlying problems that contribute to homelessness, including economic struggles, mental health issues and drug abuse.

Others, including Miami Beach Mayor Steve Meiner, applauded the legislation Wednesday. Last year, the commission passed its own legislation allowing police to arrest people who refuse to go to homeless shelters.

“Welcome to Miami Beach, the law and order city in the law and order state of Florida,” Meiner said at the news conference. ” … Sometimes it’s a little bit of tough love but it’s necessary tough love. My mission, our mission as a community, is to make Miami Beach the safest city in America.”