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.