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2007 Florida Legislative Agenda
Fully Fund the Sadowski Housing Trust Fund
Florida continues to face its greatest housing crisis ever, despite having prepared for such a crisis in 1992 with the establishment of the Sadowski Housing Trust Fund. Yet, in 06/07, when the Sadowski Housing Trust Fund doc stamp tax generated more nearly $940 million dollars, only $545 million was allocated for housing and hurricane housing recovery programs in the state. Housing costs have increased by at least 77 percent since 2002 while the median income has risen just 1.4 percent. Homelessness in the state is at record numbers and each family needs significantly greater assistance than they would have needed four years ago. Coupled with our state’s innovative housing programs, we have enough resources to address this housing crisis, but only if the cap is removed and Sadoswki fully funded.
Please urge your legislators to repeal the Sadowski Housing Trust Fund cap and support SB 144 (King, R, FL-8) and HB 367 (Saunders, D, FL-120).
Provide Funding Needs for State-Funded Homeless Assistance Programs
State Funded Homeless Assistance programs account for less than one percent of the state’s budget while directly reducing the stain on other publicly-funded systems in including the correctional and healthcare systems.
- Preserve funding to local homeless coalitions at the 2006-2007 level of $625,000
These small grants are provided to 28 local coalitions to fulfill the myriad of responsibilities assigned to them under state law and help equip them to mobilize and coordinate the local response to homelessness.
- Restore Challenge Grant Funding to the 2000-2001 funding level of $3.8 million, ($250,000 to each catchment area)
The Challenge Grant competitively funds projects that meet the most pressing needs identified in local continuum of care plans including substance abuse treatment, job training, physical and mental healthcare, etc. In 2005, more than 28,000 people were assisted through Challenge Grant Funding, which is heavily leveraged and effectively spent.
- Increase Emergency Financial Assistance for Housing funding by $1 million (for total budget of $2.8 million) from general revenue to respond to the demand from families facing a housing crisis.
The demand for this program has exceeded the budget for the last two years. In FY 04/05, the program had fully committed its direct assistance for $1,600,000 by the end of May 2005 after assisting 3,902 families. Another 600 families applied after the budget was exhausted, and had to be denied assistance.
In FY 05/06, the original budget for direct assistance was fully expended in early January 2006. A budget amendment was approved at that time to supplement the funding with $998,550. That additional funding was expended by mid-May 2006. A total of 6,548 families were assisted. Another 540 families had to be denied, having applied after the budget was expended. Overall, in FY 05/06, 11,385 families sought this state aid this year.
Revise the Definition of Homelessness
To promote greater consistency and to ensure that families with children and youths who are lacking adequate living accommodations qualify for state homeless assistance, the definition of “homeless” and “homeless person” needs to be revised to reflect the reality of homelessness, to eliminate barriers to assistance by establishing a uniform definition for all stat homeless assistance programs, simplify data collection efforts and make it easier for families with children to get assistance without having to literally live on the street.
Replace the current definition “Homeless” in section 420.621(4), FS, with the following definition.
“Homeless Person” refers to an individual who lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence. The term includes:
- (i) Individuals who are sharing the housing of other persons due to the loss of housing, economic hardship or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to a lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement.
- (ii) Individuals who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designated for or ordinarily used as a sleeping accommodation for human beings;
- (iii) Individuals who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train station, or similar settings; and
- (iv) Migratory individuals who qualify as homeless because they are living in circumstances described in clauses (i) through (iii).
The term does not refer to any individual imprisoned or otherwise detained pursuant to state or federal law.
Support HB 1083 (Culp, R, FL-57); SB 2824 (Crist, R, FL -12)!
Protect Homeless People from Violence
NO ONE should be beaten, harassed, threaten, assaulted, robbed, injured or killed simply because they do not have a safe place to sleep at night. Homeless men, women, and children are particularly vulnerable to crimes against them because they are an easy, visible, susceptible target and often lack a place to retreat for safety and protection. In the majority of cases of violence against a homeless person, the perpetrators intentionally and deliberately choose their victim because they were homeless, thus fitting the category of ‘hate crime’ in that they are acts of bias-motivated crimes, referring to the prejudice or partiality of the perpetrator against the victim’s real or perceived grouping or circumstance.
Legislation has been filed (HB 11 (Taylor, D, FL -84); SB 1458 (Joyner, D, FL-18) which makes aggravated assault or battery on a homeless person a felony offense. The measures also amends existing statute to increase the penalty of felony or misdemeanor offenses if such a crime evidences prejudice based on homeless status.
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