Short-term-rental day at the Capitol

It was a big day for short-term rentals over at the Texas State Capitol Tuesday. The biggest news on regulations came out of the Texas Senate, which approved Senate Bill 451. That bill, written by Sen. Kelly Hancock (R-North Richland Hills), prevents cities in Texas from banning short-term rentals. It also narrows the scope of allowed city regulations governing short-term rentals to those designed to protect the public’s health and safety. Also yesterday, the Texas House companion bill – House Bill 2551 – was taken up by the Committee on Urban Affairs, where it was still being discussed at the time of publication. Among the speakers on HB 2551 was Austin Mayor Steve Adler, who spoke against it. The Austin City Council passed regulations on short-term rentals in 2015 that would be largely negated by the state action. The Austin regulations are the subject of a lawsuit that Attorney General Ken Paxton joined in 2016.