New Bill Looks To house the Homeless In Government Funded Stadiums by: Marcella Marquez

In Florida they have recently revisited a law that states that stadiums built with money from taxpayers must house homeless on nights when no events are happening. This law that has been ignored for the most part is 23 years old. Two legislators have taken it upon themselves to pass bills that would make the law become effective.  They seem to reaching their goal too, this past Monday “the bill passed the committee with a unanimous vote (Miami Herald).”  According to the Miami Herald the legislators say: “We have spent over $300 million supporting teams that can afford to pay a guy $7, $8, $10 million a year to throw a baseball 90 feet. I think they can pay for their stadium. I cannot believe that we’re going to cut money out of Medicaid and take it away from homeless and take it away from the poor and impoverished, and we’re continuing to support people who are billionaires.” What the bills looks to do exactly is “…force owners of sports facilities like the AmericanAirlines Arenas in Miami and Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg to refund millions of dollars and begin operating homeless shelters on off-nights. So far, the state has spent more than $270 million on constructing stadiums, with the former Dolphin Stadium receiving $37 million and AAA taking $27.5 million. (Miami Herald)” If the bill does pass it is clear the stadiums will have to pay huge amounts of money.  

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/23/2604180/bill-would-enforce-law-turning.html