Bill targeting Floridians experiencing homelessness advances in House

Share

Listen:

A bill that restricts people experiencing homelessness from sleeping on public property moved forward in the State House Thursday. The bill faced support and pushback for various reasons.

The bill is sponsored by Republican Representative Sam Garrison. It bans public sleeping and camping. It also allows for counties to turn certain public areas into homeless encampments.

Democratic Representative Dianne Hart voted against the bill. The Tampa representative’s district is the home to 100 tiny cottages to house Tampa’s homeless population.

“I don’t think that forcing municipalities to do what we’re doing in Tampa with our 8 million bucks that we’re putting into an encampment and even having a security does not necessarily make it completely safe, but I just cannot support this piece of legislation.”

Republican Representative Michelle Salzman voted for the bill, saying the streets weren’t safe for her when she was an unhoused child.

“There’s a reason why my parents would go hunting for a home for us to hide in. It wasn’t because we thought the streets were safe, and we just couldn’t be there, it’s because we knew if we were there we would be vulnerable.”

Others, such as Republican Representative Randy Fine, seem to just not want to see the people experiencing homelessness. At 17 years old, Fine was so shaken after seeing a single homeless person sleeping off-campus in New Haven that he wrote off attending Yale entirely.

“That was the end of his interest in potentially attending that university. It was me, it was Yale, and who knows, maybe I would’ve gone there, God forbid, had that not happened.”

The bill passed the House Health & Human Services committee 17 to 3.

You may also like

Tropical Storm Rafael forms, watches issued for parts of Florida

Tropical Storm Rafael could reach category two hurricane status just...

Talking Animals: veteran advocate delivers anatomy of a victorious, major animal rights campaign

Jodie Wiederkehr, Executive Director of Chicago Alliance for Animals ...

Fascist violence and the truth laid bare

Commemorative in Ocoee, FL marking racist election day violence in...

The 2024 Veganic Summit with Meg Kelly

Join Anni and Tanja to discuss organic gardening, farming and...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Follow us on Instagram

The Morning Show Tuesday
Player position: