Bill to ban discrimination against Section 8 recipients dead in Legislature
Rep. Mike Howard, DFL-Richfield, spoke at a press conference surrounded by lawmakers and housing advocates on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Photo by Michelle Griffith/Minnesota Reformer.
A bill that would have prevented landlords from discriminating against tenants who receive public assistance, including federal Section 8 housing vouchers, will not pass the Legislature this session.
The legislation was removed from two housing bills in committee meetings this week.
Rep. Michael Howard, DFL-Richfield, said in a committee meeting Tuesday that Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park would not vote for the housing, labor and transportation finance bill if it included the provision. Given the Democrats’ narrow 34-33 control of the Senate, they can’t afford to lose any votes because Republicans are voting in lockstep against most of the bills.
“That is beyond disappointing, that one member of this Legislature would seek to take down all of the fine work of all of the members, all of the Minnesotans, that have done work in housing and labor and transportation…but we can’t in good conscience put all of that good work at risk,” said Howard, who chairs the House Housing Finance and Policy Committee.
Latz said in an interview that he has been opposed to the bill since it was introduced last session.
“I don’t think multifamily housing owners ought to be required to enter into a federal contract in order to rent out their property,” he said, adding that he would like to see higher funding and lower administrative barriers so that more people can use federal housing subsidies like Section 8 vouchers.
Latz said he would support an incentive-based approach to convince more landlords to accept tenants who receive rental assistance, such as signing bonuses.
The protection from discrimination — also known as source of income protections — would also ban landlords from advertising rentals as “no Section 8,” and was a priority for the Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan this session.
It’s another example of divisions within the DFL on housing legislation.
Housing advocates formed an unlikely alliance with developers to limit municipal governments’ ability to block housing developments with zoning rules; those bills died after opposition from DFL leaders.
Sen. Lindsey Port, DFL-Burnsville, who chairs the Senate Housing and Homelessness Prevention Committee, offered the amendment to remove the source of income protections.
“Unfortunately, the Senate does not have the votes to pass this provision and to protect against discrimination … I will not hide my disappointment in that fact,” Port said.
Rental assistance programs like federal Section 8 vouchers usually have long waiting lists. Once a family receives a voucher — often months or years after applying — they frequently struggle to find landlords who will accept the voucher.
In 2017, the city of Minneapolis passed an protecting tenants from source of income discrimination. After years of litigation, the Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld the ordinance in a ruling earlier this year.
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