LEXINGTON, Ky. — Lexington’s source of income discrimination ban is moving forward, as it passed through a committee meeting Tuesday, Jan. 23. The ordinance will move on to the full council during a work session next week

What You Need To Know

  • Lexington's source of income discrimination ordinance is moving forward after it was passed during a committee meeting

  • The ordinance goes to the full council next week, and there will be a vote to put the ordinance on the docket

  • If passed, the ordinance will ban landlords from not accepting applications from those who use a housing voucher

  • Should Senate Bill 25 or House Bill 18 get passed, the ordinance's sponsors are prepared to amend the ordinance to follow state law

Councilmembers Shayla Lynch and Dave Sevigny are ordinance’s co-sponsors.

If it’s passed, it would ban landlords from not accepting applications from people using a housing voucher.

“Councilmember Sevigny and I are very pleased and excited that we’ve gotten the ordinance out of committee,” Lynch said. “It was a lot of hard work, but our neighbors are definitely worth it and having more housing opportunities for our neighbors here in the city is definitely worth it.”

Councilmember Whitney Baxter added an amendment to the ordinance to remove language about buying a home. She ultimately voted against moving the ordinance out of committee, adding she feels there’s misinformation about the ordinance’s impact on landlords.

“Reporting it out early felt like fast-tracking to me,” Baxter said. “In addition [to] everything going on at the state level, I felt like it was really important for us just to kind of take a beat and see what was going to happen at the state level.” 

If either Senate Bill 25 or House Bill 18 passes in the state legislature, they would essentially make Lexington’s source of income discrimination ordinance ineffective, but that’s not stopping its sponsors from pressing forward with it.

Lynch said if the Senate or House bills are passed, they are prepared to pivot and amend the ordinance to be in line with state law.

Kentucky’s House of Representatives voted on HB 18 and it was passed. It now goes to the state Senate.

Related Stories