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Bills to combat housing discrimination heading to Whitmer

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Landlords could not discriminate against tenants or prospective tenants who use housing vouchers or some other type of public assistance to pay the rent under bills adopted early Thursday by the Legislature

The House gave final approval to the bills on party-line votes. Democrats say how people pay the rent should not matter and that’s especially true right now when housing is hard to find and expensive.

But Republican Representative Andrew Fink says targeting landlords this way is the wrong approach. He says the problem is local zoning rules and regulations that make building more expensive.

“If we can address the causes of homes being expensive, then we can address the shortage because the only way to make housing really affordable is to make it abundant.”

The bills now go to Governor Gretchen Whitmer for her signature.

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