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[COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR] ORDINANCE NO. 231019, AS AMENDED
title
Sponsor: Mayor Quinton Lucas
Committee Substitute
Amending various sections
of Chapter 38, "Civil Rights," and Chapter 34, "Health and Sanitation," for the purpose
of classifying
source of income as a protected trait in regard to housing discrimination, requiring an annual report on
source of income discrimination complaints and enforcement, and requiring standard language in rental applications; and directing the City Manager to provide notification
of this ordinance through various communication channels and identify an annual
source of funding to implement the provisions
of this ordinance; reducing the Contingent Appropriation by $1,000,000.00 in the General Fund; appropriating that amount for the Landlord Risk Mitigation Fund Pilot Program; and designating requisitioning authority.
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WHEREAS, discrimination on the basis
of cash
income, such as Supplemental Security
Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), child support, tipped wages, and rental assistance is also rampant; and
WHEREAS, nearly half
of residents residing in voucher-based households are children; and
WHEREAS, the Housing Choice Voucher Program, codified at 42 U.S.C. ?1437f and
often referred to as Section 8
of the Housing Act
of 1937, was designed to increase opportunities for poor families and reduce the concentration
of poverty by neighborhood; and
WHEREAS, the program does not work as intended for many participants, primarily because property owners will not accept their vouchers, leading to tenants not being able to utilize the voucher; and
WHEREAS, a growing number
of states and localities have enacted laws, known as
source of income protection laws, that can increase voucher acceptance, including the other Missouri cities
of St. Louis, Webster Groves, and Clayton; and
WHEREAS, the City has substantial interest in reducing hom...
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