Update 4/30: The House Urban Affairs Committee reconsidered the vote on HB 2909 on April 29, reporting favorably the committee substitute that includes an amendment to exempt Austin. The re-vote, which included the previously absent Rep. Bernal, passed the committee 5-2.
Original Post 4/28: HB 2909, a bill that would ban any city in Texas from enacting anti-discrimination laws to protect renters using housing vouchers, was approved by the Texas House Urban Affairs Committee on Tuesday afternoon. The bill by Rep. Drew Springer of Gainesville passed the committee by a vote of 5-1, with Rep. Carol Alvarado of Houston as the lone dissenter and Rep. Diego Bernal of San Antonio absent. It includes an amendment that exempts Austin, the only city in Texas with a source of income protection law, from the proposal via a grandfather clause.
The bill’s Senate companion, CSSB 267, was voted out of committee in March with the same amendment, added by Sen. Kirk Watson of Austin. The amended version was approved by the full Senate on April 7 by a vote of 20-11.
HB 2909 was sent to the House’s general calendar to await a floor vote.
Correction: A previous version of this post stated that the House version does not include the Austin exemption. Both bills were amended to include the grandfather clause.
[…] Both chambers of the Texas Legislature are currently considering bills that would ban local governments from enacting source of income protection laws, in response to a recent fair housing ordinance in Austin. While Austin is the first city in Texas to protect those who use housing vouchers from landlord discrimination, source of income protection is on the books in 12 states, the District of Columbia and dozens of cities, towns and counties around the country. […]
[…] to forbid voucher-based discrimination – which is now being challenged by a lawsuit and a legislative effort to ban any city in Texas from adopting such a […]
[…] Huberty and Dale respect agreements made by Rep. Drew Springer of Gainesville, the sponsor of another source of income bill that passed Urban Affairs before dying on the House calendar last week, to leave the grandfather […]