House Bill 25 was unable to to make it through the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee after a 5-6 vote.
Bill Sponsor Kathleen Cates intended this bill to amend the 1969 Human Rights Act.
“The Human Rights Act is a state civil rights law that among other things guarantees full and equal services and accommodations to all people regardless of, then it lists the protected classes. Today I'm asking to put in “income source” as a protected class. During the interim committee we heard numerous testimonies that individuals looking to rent were denied based on their income.”
Many testified in support of the HB 25 Housing Discrimination Based on Income.
Ellen Acramen explained the difficulties of finding an apartment in Santa Fe with a housing voucher.
“Probably two thirds of the landlords I spoke with, once I said I had Section 8 they were not interested in renting [to] me. That's a huge number. I finally figured out that the first thing that I needed to ask was would they take a section 8 housing voucher cause most of them said no. They didn't have the chance to find out that I'm a 30 year, good tenant who they would have liked to rent to.”
The opposition to this bill came from a confusion of the definition of “income source” and how this would function legally.
