Members of the University of Wisconsin’s student government heard additional testimony Monday on a state Senate bill that would effectively prohibit landlord restrictions on the local level.

If passed, Senate Bill 107 would prohibit most restrictions on landlords except those at the state level. The discussion of SB 107 was a follow-up to last week’s Legislative Affairs presentation on the issue.

There was a general consensus among members that after the bill likely passes Madison landlords should be held to sign an agreement to keep current local laws, which would be nullified by the legislation, in place – an issue Legislative Affairs members said was of great importance to students.

This agreement will provide a sense of security for current and future tenants, the committee said.

“In general, [landlords] have been saying they will continue to observe these [laws] because if not, they will lose business,” Rep. Mudit Kacker said. “But we are trying to get something concrete.”

Legislative Affairs Chair Hannah Somers gained members’ perspectives on whether or not landlords should be allowed to add their own amendments to this standard agreement that will be created.

Other discussion of SB 107 included how attendees of the upcoming Housing Fair on Nov. 17 will provide education about this issue, along with raising awareness in general among students on campus.

Ideas such as short workshops during the Housing Fair to inform students of their rights and passing out fliers on Library Mall were considered.

If these agreements are signed, the Legislative Affairs committee is hoping to create an accountability plan so that landlords will be forced to uphold their promises.

Two ideas proposed for this accountability plan were a student committee and a survey.

Somers suggested creating this committee with two or three people representing each landlord who would be able to meet with the Associated Students of Madison twice a year and talk about their living experience.

However, the committee recognized that problems could potentially arise from both of these plans as two people is a small sampling and could be hit-or-miss.

“[The] problem with getting ratings from students is [that] a lot of them don’t know what their rights are,” Kacker said.

Somers also said she is meeting with City Alcohol Policy Coordinator Mark Woulf later this week.

In preparation for this, she sought committee perspective on whether there were any issues requiring discussion.

Somers added her main purpose for the meeting is to get a feel of what responsible action involving alcohol at the city level will look like.

The meeting closed with a brief conversation about the new differential tuition legislation and whether or not members could reach a consensus for a committee opinion on the legislation.

Somers emphasized the university has already had differential tuition through the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates and that this legislation would further tuition costs.

“Why are we against this? Why shouldn’t we have differential tuition”? Somers said. “We already have differential tuition, so passing this would only be adding more.”

Talk will continue on this matter during next week’s meeting.