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[COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR] ORDINANCE NO. 231019, AS AMENDED

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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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