Topline
Florida legislators advanced a bill this week to prohibit sleeping and camping on public property unless it’s at an approved homeless encampment site, a heated topic that will be debated by the Supreme Court after places like Texas, Georgia and an Oregon city passed similar legislation in recent years.
A homeless encampment sits on a street in Downtown Los Angeles, California, USA.
Key Facts
SB 1530, which seeks to ban cities and counties from allowing people to sleep on public property without a temporary permit unless there’s a state of emergency, was approved by a state Senate committee Monday.
Sleeping or camping on public property without an exemption is already banned in many Florida cities and counties, including Miami-Dade County, Brevard County and West Palm Beach.
The bill, authored by Republican state Sen. Jonathan Martin, would instead allow local governments to designate a specific area for people to camp and sleep, so long as there’s security present at all times and access to behavioral services, drugs and alcohol are prohibited, it’s sanitary with clean water and it doesn’t affect the safety or value of businesses or homes.
SB 1530, which would go into effect in October if passed, would also allow people or businesses to sue counties that violate any of the bill’s requirements, and if they win, the counties must cover court fees, attorney fees, witness fees, investigative costs and deposition fees.
Martin said during a committee meeting the purpose of the bill was to provide unhoused people with resources like mental health, job and substance abuse counseling, and housing them in one area instead of being “scattered” around the state is “more efficient.”
HB 1365, a similar bill that passed a state House committee last week, also intends to restrict local governments from permitting people to sleep or camp on public property, but allows them to designate certain sleeping areas with the same requirements.
Chief Critics
Several experts and advocates have spoken out against SB 1530. Martha Are, CEO of nonprofit Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, told Forbes she has “grave concerns” about whether cities and counties would be able to afford to establish these proposed encampments, and said they “would be faced with the threat of a lawsuit unless they arrest people solely for existing and having the need to sleep.” Democratic state senator Rosalind Osgood said during the vote on SB 1530 that because homeless people contribute to the taxes that pay for public property, “it’s their property,” too. Jonathan Webber, Florida policy director for the nonprofit SPLC Action Fund, said during the committee meeting that because the bill doesn’t specify what’s considered public sleeping, it “will be selectively enforced against poor and unhoused people.” Martin stated the specifics on what’s considered illegal public sleeping and camping will be addressed at a later date.
What To Watch For
The Supreme Court agreed earlier this month to decide whether a city in Oregon violated citizens’ 8th Amendment rights by banning homeless people from sleeping in public places. A federal appeals court previously ruled Grants Pass, Oregon imposed cruel and unusual punishment by not allowing homeless people a place to sleep, an 8th Amendment violation.
Big Number
653,100. That’s how many people in 2023 experienced homelessness each night in the U.S., up 70,000 from 2022, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. That’s around 20 of every 10,000 people.
Key Background
The issue of allowing unhoused people to camp or sleep on public property has grown as a policy debate in recent years. Unfair wages, rising housing costs and a decline in federally subsidized housing is driving the increase in homelessness, thus driving the criminalization of homelessness, according to a 2019 report by the National Homelessness Law Center. Republican lawmakers have led the charge on banning public sleeping and camping. Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a statewide law in 2021 that went into effect the same year banning camping without a permit in all public places. Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law in 2023 restricting counties from adopting policies that prohibit state or local bans on public sleeping and camping. An Oklahoma city banned sleeping outdoors in the downtown area last month, saying the law will improve businesses while straying from criminalizing homelessness.
Tangent
Some cities have worked around enacting outright public camping bans. The Denver city council passed an ordinance Monday banning homeless encampment sweeps when the temperatures drop below freezing. After a federal court barred San Francisco in 2023 from cleaning up homeless encampments until more beds cleared up, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized the court and said encampments “foster dangerous and unhealthy conditions for those living in them, and for communities around them.”
Further Reading
Supreme Court To Decide Whether Cities Can Keep Homeless People From Sleeping On Public Land (Forbes)
Denver council approves banning homeless camp sweeps below 32 degrees (9news)
Shawnee ban on sleeping outdoors the latest effort to push homeless people away, critics say (The Oklahoman)
