Legislation to prevent cities such as Louisville and Lexington from forcing a property owner to accept Section eight housing vouchers is gaining traction in the Kentucky General Assembly.

Bourbon County Republican senator and real estate attorney Stephen West is the sponsor of Senate Bill 25 that also seeks to ensure that state law overrides local ordinances on Section eight when they conflict.

Democratic senators from Louisville and Lexington sought to make their case against the bill, arguing in part that the bill seeks to fix a problem that doesn't exist.

I also think it's important to say that this bill doesn't solve the problems that the Senator from Bourbon says it does.

There is no city advocating that every landlord be required to take Section eight for every single unit, no matter what, and a law requiring that would most certainly violate federal law.

Why is the currency for Section eight tenants worth less than other forms of currency?

What's the concern here?

What's the rule?

What's the real hidden agenda behind this ban?

All we're trying to do is give people who's trying to get a leg up is what Section eight does.

It's a federal program.

It's been around since 1965 and the Housing Development Act that says we want to give people who can't afford a place to live, a decent place to live.

Now, proponents of the bill say it's designed to protect personal property rights and that it's not an attack on Section eight housing, but rather the strings that are attached to the program.

You know, the opponents of the bill are making this into something it's not.

First of all, what the senator from bourbon is attempting to do here is to protect rights that have been long enshrined in our Constitution as it relates to personal, personal property rights.

These are some of the very basic tenets upon which our country was founded.

And if a landlord is forced by the government to take Section eight payments, that is an abridgment an absolute insult to those rights enshrined in the Constitution.

All the landlords I know are more than happy to accept cash in many different forms, including vouchers.

The strings that would be attached to section eight are additional inspections above and beyond city inspections repairs needed.

If it's not up to up to the specific Section eight standards, not city standards, Section eight standards in there are rent guidelines.

Senator Stephen West, Senate Bill 25 advanced from the Senate this afternoon on a vote of 32 six, and it now heads to the House for consideration there.

Now, while that's happening in Frankfort, Lexington is a step closer to an ordinance that goes in the opposite direction.

Lexington's proposed ordinance would require landlords to accept renters, housing vouchers and other types of payment.

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

The Urban County Council's Social Services and General Government Committee voted 7 to 3 yesterday in favor of the requirement.

Now, it's not on the books yet.

The full council is expected to deal with it January the 30th.

If it passes there, it would become law March 1st and the ordinance says it will not conflict with state or federal laws.