LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A proposed bill looks to change how Kentucky cities can handle discrimination rules over Section 8 housing.
House Bill 18 would allow landlords to not rent to people who use housing vouchers.
The vouchers, mainly given to low-income individuals by the federal government, are used to cover all or part of a person’s rent.
A Louisville ordinance unanimously in 2020 prohibits landlords from discriminating against renters based on source of income.
Lexington lawmakers are considering a similar ban.
The bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Ryan Dotson (D-73) calls the ordinances government overreach.
“I’ve talked with some landlords. I’ve met with some landlord associations and many of them are just pulling up stakes out of Louisville, pulling up stakes out of Fayette County because they don’t want to deal with this,” he said. “It’s a blatant government overreach.”
As Lexington councilman Dave Sevigny explains, he said their drafted ordinance calls out forms of indirect discrimination – meaning landlords can’t say they don’t accept vouchers as their single method of removing a possible tenant from their applicant pool.
“It is nothing more. Nothing forces a landlord to enter into the partnership with the government if they don’t care to,” he said.
The bill passed the committee on Thursday and heads to the Kentucky House Floor.
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