Q&A of the Day – What Florida’s New Panhandling Proposal Would Do
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
Social: @brianmuddradio
iHeartRadio: Use the Talkback feature – the microphone button on our station’s page in the iHeart app.
Today’s Entry: @brianmuddradio Thanks for covering the bill that addresses homelessness. Please cover the one for panhandling too. We need both to pass!
Bottom Line: Panhandling, in addition to homelessness, have no doubt been hot topics in Florida and especially South Florida in recent years. Earlier this week I addressed the current proposal being considered in the state legislative session aimed at significantly reining in homelessness across the state by mandating local governments only permit space for homeless individuals under conditions which can best be described as fully operational homeless shelters. In other words, if the bill passes there will be no more legal camping or sleeping on the streets, sidewalks and parks in Florida. But as referenced that’s not the only related legislation. Another proposal under consideration in the state legislature is the Solicitation of Contributions Act, aka the panhandling bill. This legislation aims to effectively end the aggressive panhandling that so many communities deal with daily. It was just in early December I last addressed the topic as a listener was explaining that the problem had become so bad near her work that she was being aggressively targeted by panhandlers in the dark. As I’ve explained in addressing this topic in recent years the reason the problem has grown is largely due to legal rulings in federal courts which struck down local ordinances against panhandling on First Amendment grounds. As word got around the would-be panhandling community the problem has proliferated into what we see across the state today where commonly major intersections come with rotating panhandlers, many who’ve effectively made careers out of the practice.
Because federal courts have ruled in favor of panhandlers previously in the name of the First Amendment, it makes enacting state policy against it a bit more tricky. But the key to potentially lawfully doing so rests in exactly how courts have ruled. If panhandling is considered a form of speech, then it can be regulated as speech. Governments have three ways in which they can regulate speech: time, place and manner. And what the legislation aims to do is to end aggressive panhandling by placing restrictions on those conditions. The legal summary of the bill reads as follows:
- Prohibits panhandling under certain circumstances; prohibits person from approaching operator or other occupant of motor vehicle for purpose of panhandling; provides additional violations that constitute felony; requires individuals engaged in solicitation in certain areas to identify on whose behalf & for what purpose contributions are being solicited.
Specifically, the bill would ban panhandling under all of these conditions:
- All roadways
- All sidewalks
- Within 50 feet of commercial properties, bus stops, parking lots, parking garages and public restrooms
- Within 100 feet of schools and daycare facilities
- Inside of public buildings
The proposed legislation would also make it illegal to panhandle under any circumstances if they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Profanity while panhandling would be prohibited as would any physical contact. The penalties for violators would range from $100 and up to 30 days in jail for first time offenders to $200 and up to 60 days in jail for repeat offenders. And there’s another provision in the bill that would potentially have the teeth to end almost all panhandling if enacted.
Under Florida law it’s a felony to solicit charitable donations if an organization isn’t registered with the state of Florida. The bill as currently written would define many common panhandling practices (such as begging on sidewalks and streets) as a form of “charitable solicitation”.
There’s little doubt that if this were to pass in the session and were signed into law by Governor DeSantis that there would be legal challenges to it. However, the bill is written in such a way to address those legal considerations based on past rulings. If you’d like to see this become law, however, you probably should contact your state representative and state senator and tell them to prioritize it. As of today, there’s only been the first reading of this bill in the legislature. It’s yet to even begin to be considered in committees which are the first stops on the way to potential passage. The state session ends in little more than a month, so time is of the essence.