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FRANKFORT, Ky. (Jan. 24, 2024) — The Kentucky Senate moved forward Wednesday on a measure that would prohibit local governments from requiring landlords to accept tenants who participate in Section 8 housing.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, said Senate Bill 25 deals with the protection of property rights – rights that have a long history in the United States and around the world.
“The bottom line is that property owners own their property. It’s not the city’s property. It’s not the state’s property,” he said. “We have a housing crisis, granted. If cities and counties want to help solve that crisis, they are free to do so. But they probably need to do it with some of their money and not other people’s money.”
In addition to the provisions on Section 8, the bill also states that no local ordinance can be enacted that conflicts with Kentucky law on eviction statutes.
West called the bill a preemptive measure and said such protections allow individuals to gauge risks and procure loans to invest in property. Local laws that abridge those rights could throw the system into a tailspin, he said.
“This is a simple protection of the status quo – rights that landlords currently have under statute, under our current eviction statutes, rights that they currently enjoy under the federal Section 8 housing program,” he said.
SB 25 received approval with a 30-6 vote and now heads to the House. However, several critics spoke against the bill before it advanced off the floor.
One of them, Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-Louisville, said the bill would invalidate other local laws in the area of housing and that tenants should not face discrimination based on their source of income.
Louisville enacted a law to prevent such discrimination in 2020, and “property owners were and still are committed to implementing it. Renters benefitted from it. It was no longer OK for a landlord to post an ad saying no Section 8 need to apply,” she said. “It gave people dignity, and it gave people housing. This bill we are considering today would undo those important protections.”
Chambers Armstrong said the Section 8 program doesn’t require landlords to set a particular rent or prohibit them from charging a fair market rate, and it doesn’t stop them from charging security deposits.
“It is designed to support renters, not to restrict property owners,” she said.
But Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, said if a landlord is forced by the government to take Section 8 payments, it’s an insult to the rights enshrined in the constitution.
“When government starts forcing landlords to accept less than what the market value is for their property, that’s where we have the problem. It’s happening here in Lexington,” he said.
Senate Minority Whip David Yates, D-Louisville, said he’s a landlord, and agreed that the measure would undermine the local rules adopted in Louisville.
“I set what the value of the property is. If Section 8 can pay that amount, then they can apply. If that amount is set above what Section 8 would pay for, then that person can’t use that property. As a landlord, I set that,” he said.
Another property owner, Senate Minority Caucus Chair Reginald Thomas, D-Lexington, said the measure would impact “a class of people like myself,” and rent control is not the issue. He also opposed the bill.
“In Lexington, 75%, 3 out of 4 Section 8 vouchers, are given to Blacks in Lexington. The overwhelming numbers of Section 8 vouchers in Lexington are Black Americans,” he said.
But others, like Sen. Gary Boswell, R-Owensboro, spoke in favor of the legislation.
“This bill is about property rights. Rules and regulations kill new housing developments. Rules and regulations kill the remodeling of existing houses,” he said. “Yes, there is a housing crisis, but overburdensome rules hurt housing.”
Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, also voted for SB 25.
“This bill is a solid bill to keep local individuals from creating and exacerbating bad policies, which will negatively impact access to housing,” he said.
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