INDIANAPOLIS — A proposal to have the state pre-empt most local government restrictions on Hoosiers making their homes available through short-term rental programs, such as AirBnB, met a familiar fate Wednesday at the Statehouse.
The vote was seven in favor, including state Reps. Julie Olthoff, R-Crown Point, and Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie; and three opposed, including state Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon, D-Munster.
The committee chairman, state Sen. Mark Messmer, R-Jasper, said he may call another meeting for absent committee members to put the recommendation over the top.
Though a favorable recommendation often helps build support in the Republican-controlled House and Senate.
Depending on how any pre-emption legislation is worded, several Region beach communities with longstanding restrictions on short-term home rentals could see those ordinances wiped off the books.
House Bill 1133, a proposed pre-emption statute with some local exemptions, earlier this year required two roll calls to initially pass the House, after the first attempt came in three votes shy of the 51 necessary to advance it to the Senate.
A later House motion to concur in Senate changes to the measure also was unable to achieve the required constitutional majority.
The Legislature ultimately adjourned for the year before a House-Senate conference committee could resolve the differences between each chamber's preferred proposal.
The topic was approved for study committee review in the hope of reaching a satisfactory compromise.
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