Governor Ron DeSantis announces measures to combat homelessness
Press release from the Office of Governor Ron DeSantis
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced he is working with the Florida Legislature to keep Florida’s streets clean and safe as bills move during Florida’s Legislative Session to combat homelessness. To read the full proposal, click here.
“We cannot allow any city in Florida to become like San Francisco, where homelessness, drugs, and crime have decimated the quality of life, hurt the economy, and eroded freedom,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “In Florida we will continue to enact policies that promote accountability and community safety, unlike in California where they are promoting dangerous policies that harm their communities and economy.”
The proposal includes:
- Prohibiting camping on city streets, sidewalks and parks.
- Creating state enforcement tools to ensure local governments comply.
- Increasing funding for homeless shelters, while requiring occupants to not use drugs and utilize workforce services.
- Increasing funding for substance abuse and mental health treatment.
“Under the leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida is safer than ever before, and this legislative proposal will help us stay that way,” said Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass. “This legislation will make all citizens safer by keeping our streets clean. Once again, Florida is a national leader.”
“Since enacting our new ordinance against public camping this past October, we have seen more homeless individuals using available beds in shelters and therefore receiving the services they need,” said Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner. “I am thankful for the Governor’s leadership and vision for Florida, and we all continue to bolster services and provide help to those individuals who need it.”
While Florida has empowered communities to enforce law and order policies, in California and other liberal jurisdictions, they have enacted policies that neglect accountability and make their streets less safe. These policies also fail to provide meaningful help to homeless individuals. It’s easy to tell when you see where the highest homeless populations are in the country. Below is a map of the top 10 cities for homeless population nationwide:
This sounds like a great proposal! While those who have become homeless by a mistake and would like to have a home are willing to do what is required. In places such as Saint Francis House who have it right (I know! It was four years ago that my family was there) and Grace enables the drugs, and criminal behaviors by not having a set standard. And grace receives far more funding than any shelter here in Alachua county. And yes this is fact! Jan. To June of 2023 the city gave one million and seven dollars to grace while saint francis, family promise, and pathways didn’t receive even a quarter of that funding… and those latter three help families or domestic violence victims. This kind of thing isn’t okay… it’s one thing to be homeless and want help it’s another to be homeless and want handouts and not to better yourself.
DeSantis may be the best governor Florida has ever had. Kick out the 99% of bums that are just drug-addicted sociopaths, help the tiny fraction that deserve help.
The state enforcement is key, because you know our corrupt city government would stall.
“Creating state enforcement tools to ensure local governments comply.”
Thank you Governor DeSantis and the legislature for recognizing, ahead of time, this key component for implementation to actually take effect within certain cities and counties in the state.
I tell ya I love this man!!
If the bills pass, the GCC will waste taxpayer money suing the state. When GCC are forced to comply they will waste taxpayer money hiring a new Homeless Cleanup manager who will waste taxpayer money hiring a Homeless Cleanup consultant.
It’ll be the guy GRU pays millions to for having a solar panel in his yard… if you know, you know
Alachua and Gainesville leaders are already planning their legal strategies…as inept as they may be.
Here’s hoping DeSantis does something with them as well.
Hope the law gets them out of the middle of the road.
Rather they leave them in the middle of the road – as speed bumps. Some would be better than others; Saco, Ward…
Put them on a bus for NYC or California.
Hallelujah we still have democracy in Florida! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Democracy died in Blue states and Dem cities LONG AGO. City elections were in the springtime, during off-cycle years there ON PURPOSE so only 3% actually elect the mayors and commissioners there, def. of oligarchy. Fact. That meant only gumment workers, parasite lawyers and NGO-paid “volunteer groups” donated to and voted for the “winner” they elected. A recipe for one-party rule and decay, so obvious there (and Gainesville if not for RDS).
As far as this Citizen is concerned, we have the best Governor and first Lady in the U.S of A. Thank you, Governor DeSantis.
Is DeSantis trying to regulate the mice, while letting the tigers roam free?
I’m no fan of homelessness, but given how insurance executives in this state are sticking up homeowners, they make panhandlers look like Robin Hood.
Tony – insurance, it’s way up everywhere. While hurricanes are expensive, even more expensive have been all of the insurance payouts for 20 and 30 y/o’s who have died suddenly from SADS (a.k.a., clot shot side effects). Yes, the front companies are different for homeowners’ and life insurance, however the parent companies are the same, and the overall bottom line is what the managers really care about.
Florida has become the Wuhan lab for insurance company experiments.
DeSantis was a heavyweight fighting the CDC and all the bad covid policies that were being perpetrated on FL.
I think he missed a golden opportunity, by not putting the insurance companies in his crosshairs after he threw down on Pfizer.
There are a lot of bigger fish to fry than homeless people (low hanging fruit) as we try to right this ship.
It’s attorneys and their frivolous BS lawsuits that shoulder part of the blame.
Yep, the M & Ms and other ambulance chasers. What’s their payout with every lawsuit filed for a “plaintiff’s” benefit?
While I applaud this, and love our Governor, more mental institutions are needed to combat homelessness. Yes there are legit bums out there begging for money to buy alcohol and drugs but there are also a lot of mentally ill, who due families giving up after no resources or money to help them, wind up homeless and then turn to drugs and alcohol to mask the pain of their mental illness and being homeless. You’d have to be high and/or crazy to live on the streets, right? The people I’m talking about need to be institutionalized. You can hand out their meds for free and counsel them all day long but the mental illness is not going away. Once they’re back on the street, they will forget to take the meds, or not take them correctly, miss therapy appointments and continue to get high to mask the suffering. Sadly, institutions are the only way to help them.
Worthwhile thoughts and the issue then becomes identifying and treating those who truly need help versus those who do not. That’s likely a harder problem than it appears.
Let’s see the details, but otherwise I applaud the goals. The courts have had a lot to do with creating and exacerbating the issue as committing people to mental facilities and arresting them for loitering were both made difficult to impossible in the 1980’s, and those rulings have stood.
It would be nice if DeSantis cut the juvenile spit ball fight with Gov Newsom, but he obviously can’t help himself. If he was paying any attention at all, he would know that Newsom and the states of Washington and Oregon have appealed to the SC to overturn rulings of the 9th circuit – in the west – which has tied their hands dealing with the problem.
“California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants the Supreme Court to make it easier to clear homeless encampments. Advocates say that will make the crisis worse.”
https://www.businessinsider.com/homeless-encampments-supreme-court-california-arizona-oregon-criminalize-shelters-newsom-2024-1
So, cut the partisan crap governor and just do your job, including working on the homeless problem. This is not how governors act, nor how we should accept them acting.
Jazzman, I applaud your effort to embrace law-based policy! This is the closest post that you have made (that I have seen, of course) to actually laying out the issues and not go off on some agenda laden, distorted rant. Here’s a Thumbs Up!
Regarding Pelosi’s nephew, Gov Newsom, did you watch the debate between he and Gov DeSantis? Newsom made several personal attacks, while DeSantis stuck to policy comparisons.
DeSantis, in his continuous reference to CA, is trying to drive home the point that Florida won’t remain Free and Functional if we adopt the ways of those immigrants that have come here from NY, PA, CT, MA, IL, etc. It needs to be a conscious effort, and The Governor is doing it very well IMHO.
Reckoning, DeSantis is still running for national office and using us as a prop. As is clear from my link, the root of the problem are personal liberties – yay! – taken to the extreme – boo! – by our courts over a long period of time, and the very leaders DeSantis attacks are challenging those rulings at the SC. So, DeSantis is lying about the causes, lying about facts – I’ve been to SF numerous times in the last 15 years (relative) and it is not overrun by drugs or the homeless unless you got to one fairly small neighborhood which has traditionally been SFs skidrow (the Tenderloin), and lying about the problem and the intent of his self selected political enemies.
As to Freedom in Florida, tell it to child bearing age women and their spouses, tell it to families dealing with gay or transgender kids (yes, they exist and always have), tell it to business owners like me – I related the Gov dictating exactly how I could deal with clients during the height of Covid – and bigger ones like cruise lines who were forced to allow any and all comers during a public health crisis, or Disney, which besides being the reason Orlando is now a world destination, is being punished – that is not in dispute – because Governor Snowflake didn’t like what it’s CEO said about him, by removing it’s special district status – same as The Villages has – which was completely none controversial prior to the Gov getting his panties all twisted.
What’s driving the population increases into this state and out of California in your view?
No income tax, cost of living.
No one is denying that some people are gay or lesbian. Kids however, are neither that or straight – they’re kids! STOP SEXUALIZING kids!
COVID response – Governor didn’t infringe on any property owner’s rights – not once! If you are suggesting that a person’s private health information (shot status – a shot that never stopped the spread of the SARS II Corona Virus) should suddenly have been public information, then I’m sure that you are aghast that the shot status of the thousands of young adults that have died suddenly since early 2021 isn’t made public.
Regarding child-bearing age women, I assume you are referencing to laws protecting life after the indication of a heart beat. I don’t understand what concern there is regarding protecting the most innocent and defense in our society. And those children might just be gay, using your logic, therefore it’s literally killing gay people!
Reckoning, I assume then that you oppose any representations in schools of heterosexual parents or heterosexual futures for kids.
The Gov passed a law which made it a crime for me to send only vaccinated and/or masked workers into clients occupied houses during the height of the pandemic (we do remodeling work) and mandated that cruise lines could not require vaccinations for those buying their product. The Gov also punished Disney because he didn’t like what it’s CEO said about his legislation and removed it’s control of it’s own property though that had not been controversial in any sense prior to Gov Snowflakes melt down (The Villages – favorite stop for right wing politicians – has the same special district status Disney had.
Not sure what you are talking about with the deaths of thousands of young adults, unless it’s the falsified report our Surgeon General produced, for which he was called out by his UF medical colleagues.
A timely terminating of a pregnancy for medical or economic reasons shouldn’t be anyone’s decision but the woman who will be carrying it. If you disagree, don’t pretend you are for “freedom” or small government.
“Florida’s surgeon general violated his university’s rules against “careless, irregular, or contentious research practices” in recommending against mRNA coronavirus vaccination for males aged 18-39, according to a report by his colleagues at the University of Florida’s faculty of medicine.
Joseph Ladapo, who was appointed by Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis, an outspoken critic of vaccines, became the only one of the country’s 50 state surgeons general to contradict federal health authorities, and the overwhelming consensus of experts, by recommending last October against the mRNA vaccination of young men. He cited the risk of cardiomyopathy…”
https://www.bmj.com/content/380/bmj.p110
Jazz,
#1 – kids SHALL NOT be sexualized. Period. If I talked about my sexuality at work the way you want to talk to 2nd and 3rd graders, I’d be thrown out for sexual harassment.
#2 – requiring Citizens to take EXPERIMENTAL medicine is unlawful, unscientific (the shots are still EXPERIMENTAL, not proven, approved, beneficial, medical treatment). The science is actually pointing towards huge hazards from the shots you wanted to rape people with. Here’s more of the peer reviewed evidence – https://www.cureus.com/articles/203052-covid-19-mrna-vaccines-lessons-learned-from-the-registrational-trials-and-global-vaccination-campaign#!/
#3 – shots never had an effect on transmission. Those of us that didn’t have blinders on understood that as early as April 2020. The shots have no effect on the virus, only on the body’s response to the virus. That is not debatable, it’s actually settled medical science. Therefore, it’s dogmatic to even consider the shots as a preventative measure to have any effect on the spread at all – in fact they made it worse by facilitating escape mutants.
#4 – No one is suggesting that the State should force a mother to carry a baby that will risk harm to her health. That’s a favorite lie of Planned Parenthood and the pro-death movement. Economic reasons? Child sacrifice for Economic reasons? Really?
#5 – DOCTOR Joseph Ladapo. MD, PhD, is a brilliant and courageous man. He’s the 1st in what will be many who have and will eventually embrace the truth – chromosomal therapy is not safe systematically, nor was, or is, or ever will be effective at stopping a contagion from spreading. It has been and is good at causing cancer however, per the CDC’s and FDA’s own admission.
Check this evidence out from the Florida Grand Jury – it’s all about to come out, and the compromised Federal Health authorities are about to be charged with crimes against Floridian.
https://flvoicenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/SC2022-1710-First-Interim-Report.pdf
Idiot Calif. should have designated homeless campsites in the deserts, not the populated areas where the weather is nice year round. Worse, the idiots attracted more “clients” by throwing billions at ridiculous programs. 🤡👹💩🤑🤑🤑🍦D
Great article. Thank you Alachua Chronicle!