Friday, January 27, 2012

Florida SB 816


Now some nutty Republican, Mike Bennett of Bradenton, wants to drum up an old overlooked law from the 1980's to force facilities financed by the State or a local municipality to allow the homeless to occupy the facility. Major league games bring multi-millions of dollars into our local communities where stadiums have been built. What the Bill says is:

...requiring the county commission in a county in which a professional sports facility is located to establish a local homeless coalition if a local homeless program does not exist in that county; requiring that, by a specified date, the professional sports franchise that plays in a facility that benefited from financial assistance from the state, and the county in which the facility is located, provide the Auditor General with documentation that a homeless shelter has been operating at the facility from the effective date of the contract between the county and the professional sports franchise; requiring the professional sports franchise and the county to refund any financial assistance received from the state which benefited the facility during the period that the facility failed to operate a homeless shelter; requiring the Auditor General to levy a specified fine against the professional sports franchise and the county if, after a specified date, the Auditor General determines that a homeless shelter is not operating at the facility until such time that the professional sports franchise and county are operating a homeless shelter; providing an effective date.

GENERAL BILL by Bennett; (CO-INTRODUCER) Fasano Professional Sports Facilities;
Requiring the county commission in a county in which a professional sports facility is located to establish a local homeless coalition if a local homeless program does not exist in that county; requiring that, by a specified date, the professional sports franchise that plays in a facility that benefited from financial assistance from the state, and the county in which the facility is located, provide the Auditor General with documentation that a homeless shelter has been operating at the facility from the effective date of the contract between the county and the professional sports franchise; requiring the Auditor General to levy a specified fine against the professional sports franchise and the county if, after a specified date, the Auditor General determines that a homeless shelter is not operating at the facility until such time that the professional sports franchise and county are operating a homeless shelter, etc.

Unless you're a socialist, can anyone imagine anything so nuts? From the Bill Impact Analysis, teams in Florida would be on the hook for $271,539,778.

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