A bill making major changes to the landlord-tenant relationship has passed the Assembly in its final scheduled meeting of the year and will now head to Gov. Scott Walker for signing.
The bill, among other changes, would prohibit city and state government from establishing a moratorium on evictions.
Legislators voted on party lines in the Republican-controlled Assembly, passing the bill 48-32, with 15 members not voting. The bill was the third to last to be discussed and voted on in a 33-hour session.
Rep. Gary Hebl, D-Sun Prairie, offered an amendment to the bill that would have removed a provision prohibiting the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection from promulgating rules and issuing orders changing existing landlord-tenant law.
“This bill makes the floating toilets bill look like the Magna Carta,” Hebl said, referencing the Assembly’s passage of a bill earlier in the session allowing the National Park Service to build a pier containing floating toilets on the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.
Hebl also proposed four additional amendments, including one removing parts of the bill, which would have stopped courts from voiding an entire lease because of “unconscionable” provisions. All the amendments were tabled.
However, Rep. Janet Bewley, D-Ashland, said instead of equal relationship between the landlord and the tenant, the power shifts to the landlord.
“It is an unfortunate shift,” Bewley said. “It goes too far, and it does remove very important protections for tenants in ways that are really unnecessary, but I know how the vote is going to go and just needed to say that.”
Rep. Kelda Helen Roys, D-Madison, said the bill would have a “terrible impact on a vulnerable population.” She said the bill is another example of a corporate “giveaway” that has happened many times during the two-year session.
She said the Coalition against Domestic Violence, Disability Rights Wisconsin and the United Council of UW Students have all come out against the bill. She said these groups are often underrepresented in the system.
Rep. Brett Hulsey, D-Madison, said the two-year session has seen a number of bills attacking renters. He said next session’s legislators are going to have to strike a balance between the rights of landlords and tenants and will have to pass bills protecting the rights of tenants.
While the bill has many critics, there are supporters. Rep. Jim Steineke, R-Kaukana, has previously pointed to provisions in the bill which would shorten the amount of time landlords would have to hold onto property left by tenants and have argued the bill better defines and standardizes landlord-tenant relations.
He has also said the bill protects landlords from having to deal with “miscellaneous junk” left behind by tenants, removing an “undue burden”.
