Louisville vs state? Lawmakers square off over Section 8 housing discrimination rules

A controversial measure aimed at preventing local governments from barring housing discrimination gained the support of Republican lawmakers in a committee hearing Thursday.

The measure, HB 18, was passed over vociferous opposition from Democratic lawmakers, who claimed the measure pre-empted local control and would allow discrimination against people who rely on "Section 8" housing vouchers. The vouchers are given to low-income people by the federal government and can be used to cover all or part of a person's rent.

Rep. Ryan Dotson, R-Winchester, the bill's sponsor, said it is meant to stop the "blatant government overreach that is currently taking place in Jefferson County and now being considered in Fayette (County)."

A Louisville ordinance that passed unanimously in 2020 prohibits landlords from discriminating against renters based on source of income, including if that renter uses a voucher to pay for housing. Lexington lawmakers are considering a similar ban, and two of the city's council members, Shayla Lynch and Dave Sevigny, spoke against the bill.

"The 'I don't accept vouchers' method of excluding a tenant is an indirect form of discrimination that we would like to make sure doesn't happen, and we want to enforce that law," said Sevigny, who has been a landlord. "Once again, localities are in a much better position to manage the nuances of our own communities as we painstakingly take the time to craft a policy. We've spent 18 months on this, and it's laser-focused on our own community challenges."

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg also opposes HB 18, spokesperson Kevin Trager said.

The measure "would also block recently enacted protections to prevent discrimination in housing and would make it even harder for many Louisville families to put a roof over their heads," Trager said.

Both Louisville and Lexington politicians have expressed concern that a similar bill on the Senate side, SB 25, would also preempt anti-discrimination ordinances and take power away from local governments.

"I feel like what they're trying to do is more or less erase our ability to make laws to control our own local government," said Louisville Metro Councilwoman Donna Purvis, who sponsored the city's 2020 anti-discrimination bill. "I think they want to take that away from us.”

Dotson said landlords should be able to decide whether they want to rent to people using Section 8 vouchers because Section 8 tenants are more likely to cause costly damage to properties. A landlord himself, Dotson said he was willing to rent some — but not all — of his properties to Section 8 tenants.

Property owners "are left on the hook," Dotson said. "For me, it goes back to the individual property owner to make that decision."

The idea that Section 8 renters are more likely to damage property is racist, Purvis said.

HB 18 also includes a provision that local governments would not be able to charge landlords for emergency callouts if those callouts are not caused by the landlords’ actions.

A tough decision for GOP members

Republicans champion both local autonomy and property rights, said University of Kentucky political science professor Stephen Voss.

In this case, that creates a conflict for GOP politicians: "You have competing principles of decentralization versus property rights," Voss said.

Republican Reps. James Tipton of Taylorsville and Kevin Bratcher of Louisville said they wrestled with that conflict before voting for HB 18 in committee on Thursday.

Bratcher told The Courier Journal it was a hard decision to vote yes and that he is concerned both about property owners’ rights and the affordable housing shortage.

“Internally, I was about a 55% yes to 45% no,” Bratcher said.

He’s also concerned about state government overreach.

"I don't like (overreach) either. But I like the issue, so that overrode my override,” Bratcher said.

Politics more than principle could have driven some GOP support for HB 18 this week, Voss said.

"We're talking about in terms of ideals, but you can also just think of it in terms of interests," Voss said. "Who's more likely to represent landlords, other things (being) equal? That's more likely to be the Republicans. Who's more likely to represent tenants operating on the edge financially? Democrats."

Democratic Reps. Keturah Herron, Derrick Graham, Beverly Chester-Burton and Tina Bojanowski were the "no" votes.

Ultimately, both HB 18 and SB 25 gained approval from their respective committees this week. They would need floor votes from their entire chambers — implying endorsement from Republican legislative leaders — to advance.

Reach reporter Eleanor McCrary at EMcCrary@courier-journal.com or at @ellie_mccrary on X, formerly known as Twitter. Reach Rebecca Grapevine at rgrapevine@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky lawmakers fight over bills letting landlords reject Section 8