While political leaders across America flail around and do little more than throw words at problems their communities face, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to show that he is a man of action.

On Wednesday, DeSantis signed a homeless bill designed to “keep Florida’s streets safe.” According to the governor’s office, the bill “requires counties to ensure that homeless individuals receive the mental health and drug addiction services they need while residing in a designated location off our public streets, prioritizing public safety.”

“Florida will not allow homeless encampments to intrude on its citizens or undermine their quality of life like we see in states like New York and California,” Gov. DeSantis said. “The legislation I signed today upholds our commitment to law and order while also ensuring homeless individuals have the resources they need to get back on their feet.”

Effective Oct. 1., the “Unauthorized Public Camping and Public Sleeping” law (HB 1365) prohibits Florida cities and counties from allowing people to sleep in public places.

At a news conference, DeSantis was asked to respond to Democrat claims that the law will criminalize homelessness. Democratic state Rep. Anna Eskamani was one of the critics, taking on the “root cause” argument in a statement, “Governor DeSantis just signed into law a bill that will likely lead to the criminalization of homelessness. This law is going to make a bad situation worse and we should be focused on addressing the environment that creates homelessness, not punish people who have fallen into those circumstances.”

WATCH: Reporter asks DeSantis his reaction to Democrats saying new law “criminalizes homelessness”

“It’s not criminalizing homelessness […] You don’t have a right to just sleep in front of somebody’s businesses [or] take over a street.” pic.twitter.com/iqzBaFSiqK

— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) March 21, 2024

“It’s not criminalizing homelessness,” the governor replied. “What they’re saying is you don’t have a right to just sleep in front of somebody’s business, or you don’t have a right to just take over a street and put an encampment down.”

“You have homeless shelters. What the bill does is, it says you have a right to take people out of the public areas and put them in a shelter,” DeSantis continued. “We’re putting requirements that you’re not allowing them to use drugs. You’re offering mental health, you’re doing that.

In stating what should be obvious, which is that homelessness should not be impacting the lives of residents, DeSantis stressed that if “other places” took a similar approach Florida would not be among the top destinations for Americans looking to vacate the states they live in.

“They should be in a shelter. They should be some place that is outside of where the public is impacted by this,” he said. “You should not be impacted by a homeless encampment as a Floridian. That’s what that bill does. And you know what, if other places around the country had done that there probably would be a lot fewer people moving to Florida as a result.”

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Tom Tillison

Senior Staff Writer
Tom@bizpacreview.com

The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.

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