Furious Arizona voters are threatening to vote out Republicans after the Legislature declined to consider short-term rental regulations this session, dashing any hope they had for change in the immediate future.
Residents have repeatedly asked state lawmakers to clamp down on short-term rental companies, such as AirBnb and VRBO, which they say have transformed peaceful neighborhoods into disruptive party zones and priced out locals from living where they work.
This year, a group of bipartisan residents was hoping the Legislature would return cities’ power to limit the number of short-term rentals in an area and regulate the rentals in the same manner as hotels. Former Gov. Doug Ducey took that authority away in 2016, when he signed a law that prevented cities from banning short-term rentals and required them to treat short-term rentals the same as long-term rentals.
But Republican lawmakers declined to consider Republican Rep. Selina Bliss’s proposal to limit short-term rentals in the Regulatory Affairs subcommittee this week, meaning it has no chance of advancing to Gov. Katie Hobbs’ desk to be signed into law.