KC housing law likely doomed after Missouri Republicans pass bill targeting it
Kansas City’s protections against housing discrimination on the basis of income source or criminal history will likely fall, after Missouri lawmakers passed a bill on Wednesday aimed at overturning the landmark local ordinance.
The bill’s passage represents a blow to renters and tenants advocates, who argued the local ordinance enacted in 2024 offered the city’s low-income residents an important shield as they searched for affordable housing. But many landlords despised the rules, warning that it intruded on their rights and would only exacerbate housing shortages.
The state Senate passed the legislation, HB 595, in a 23-10 party-line vote. The House passed the bill in a 103-37 vote on Monday.
The bill now heads to Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe. The governor has made no comment suggesting he plans to veto the measure, which passed with strong Republican majorities.
Kansas City officials had already been largely blocked from enforcing the ordinance. A federal judge in February halted any investigations related to alleged discrimination against renters with Section 8 housing vouchers.
The General Assembly’s push to overturn the Kansas City ordinance marked another episode in the GOP-controlled legislature’s history of limiting local control of the largely Democratic city. Local officials have long been frustrated by state leaders’ willingness to impose itself on the city, whether on police control or guns.
“It is pretty frustrating that, once again, Kansas City is being targeted by the Missouri state Legislature for ordinances they pass on the local level,” House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, a Kansas City Democrat, said.
“City Council members and our mayor are duly elected to represent, you know, Kansas City and the folks who live there and so I view this bill passing as a direct attack on local control.”
The Kansas City ordinance prohibits landlords from discriminating on the basis of a person’s source of income, such as gig work, or denying housing based solely on a credit score or criminal history, with violent and sexual offenses excepted.
The bill prohibits cities and counties from having an ordinance that prohibits landlords from refusing to rent to individuals who receive Section 8 housing vouchers or other forms of housing assistance. Local ordinances that limit the amount of security deposit required are also prohibited.
The measure also prevents ordinances that restrict a landlord’s ability to weigh credit scores, eviction or property damage history, or criminal history when making decisions about renting, “according to such landlord’s own customarily applied criteria” – meaning the landlord’s normal practice.
“It’s a property rights bill, right?” said Rep. Chris Brown, a Kansas City Republican who sponsored the bill. “Just trying to protect landlords from…a municipal government overstepping their authority and infringing on property rights.”
Under the Kansas City ordinance, landlords are still allowed to ask about an applicant’s criminal history, credit or rental history but they are prohibited from denying an application on the basis of that history alone. Landlords must weigh additional information provided by a tenant, such as personal references, evidence of rehabilitation or attempts to resolve past evictions.
KC Tenants, a citywide tenant union, condemned the legislation. In an unsigned statement, the organization said the bill if signed into law would “push Missourians—especially Black women, seniors, disabled tenants, and low-wage workers—into further crisis.” KC Tenants called on Kehoe to veto the measure.
“This bill undermines the stability of the tens of thousands of Missourians who use some form of housing assistance and the 150,000 Missourians living in subsidized housing. This bill also undermines local governments’ ability to pass sound policy that serves their communities,” the statement said.
Some Kansas City landlords have loudly opposed the ordinance. They warned repeatedly that the rules would result in less available housing. Small “mom and pop” operators would be especially pressured, they have argued, asserting that renting to individuals with Section 8 vouchers is expensive for landlords.
Under Section 8, the federal government pays a landlord a portion of a tenant’s rent each month. In order to receive the government payments, owners need to adhere to certain restrictions, inspections and paperwork.
A previous version of the bill included an amendment from Sen. Patty Lewis, a Kansas City Democrat, with a carve-out for Kansas City, allowing the majority of the city to not have to follow the legislation. That amendment was removed in the final version.
“The amendment that we stripped out would have excluded Kansas City from the bill,” Brown said on the House floor on Monday. “Kansas City was a big reason we originated this bill.”
Lewis said in a statement on Wednesday that she was disappointed Republican lawmakers want to “replace local control with big government mandates handed down from politicians in Jefferson City.”
Landlords fight KC ordinance
Landlords have been fighting the ordinance in court for months. A federal lawsuit filed in October by property owners Kennedy Jones and Stephen Vogel alleged the ordinance required them to participate in the Section 8 housing program, which they said violated their constitutional rights and incorrectly usurped federal guidelines.
Jones has two rental units in Kansas City and used to accept Section 8 vouchers but stopped because the terms of the program “were unjust and financially unconscionable,” the lawsuit said. Vogel owns three rental units and has never accepted the vouchers, in part because of what he described as the burden of complying with federal inspection requirements.
In court documents, lawyers representing the city say Jones and Vogel have made an “incorrect assumption” that the ordinance requires landlords to participate in Section 8. The city says the property owners haven’t shown they have properties that would require Section 8 participation.
U.S. District Court Judge Roseann Ketchmark granted a preliminary injunction against Kansas City in February. Ketchmark ruled that the ordinance effectively coerces landlords to participate in the Section 8 program because they risk running afoul of the local ordinance if they refuse to accept vouchers.
“While the interests of landlords and tenants diverge pertaining to the Ordinance and its effects, the risk to constitutional rights in the absence of a preliminary injunction tilts the balance of harms and public interest factors in favor of Plaintiffs,” Ketchmark wrote.
In April, Ketchmark agreed to pause proceedings in the lawsuit after the property owners and the city filed a joint motion that noted legislation in the General Assembly could affect the enforceability of the ordinance.
This story was originally published May 7, 2025 at 3:57 PM.
