Action Alert! Oppose House Bill 595

We need your voice to oppose two Source of Income Discrmination Ban preemption bills!!

HB 595 has a public hearing in the Senate Local Government, Elections, and Pensions committee on Monday, March 4th at 1:00pm and SB 507 has a public hearing in the Senate General Laws committee at 8:00am on Tuesday, March 4th. These bills threatens to legalize housing discrimination against households based on their source of income and would strip away local control over our communities and harm tenants who use federal housing subsidies.

Together, we can ensure that every person has access to safe, affordable housing, regardless of how they pay rent. Thank you for standing with us.

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Dear [elected official],

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I am writing to ask you to vote no on HB 595 and SB 507. Currently, landlords in Missouri already have the right to discriminate against potential tenants based on the source of their income. Landlords can deny tenancy to applicants who derive most of their income from child support, alimony, or Housing Choice Vouchers.

Decisions about housing policies should be made at the local level. If there are cities and counties in Missouri who have or want to pass ordinances that prohibit Source of Income (SOI) discrimination to create better housing opportunities for low-income families, then we should allow them to do so.  HB 595 and SB 507 goes too far and prohibits local governments from making policy choices that meet the needs of their communities.

Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV) and other federal rental assistance programs have been shown to be effective at reducing homelessness among households with low incomes, the elderly, people with disabilities, and people experiencing significant and debilitating health challenges. Children account for 40% of voucher recipients in Missouri, but as housing for these tenants is harder to access, homelessness continues to increase. In 2024, there was a 52% increase in unsheltered homelessness among households with at least one child under the age of 18.  At the same time, many communities are seeing more than 70% of landlords refusing to accept housing vouchers, meaning that the 25% of eligible households that are able to receive a voucher also face barriers to finding housing before the voucher deadline.

Vouchers lift people out of poverty, improve mental and physical health outcomes, and decrease homelessness. The use of vouchers is the reason we have seen decreases in veteran homelessness. This is a model we should be following across Missouri, not preventing local governments from instituting proven interventions to decrease homelessness.  Please vote no on HB 595 and SB 507, because communities around the state should have the right to decide on their own policies for decreasing poverty and homelessness.

Sincerely, [Your information here]

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