Senate committee urges action on landlord-tenant recommendations after task force report

The Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs Committee heard a presentation from Emily Krasner, chair of the landlord-tenant study committee, and agreed to pursue an informal, action-oriented working group to convert the study’s recommendations into draft legislation for consideration next year.

Krasner told the committee the study committee — made up of legislators, tenants, landlords, judiciary representatives and Department of Housing officials — met six times, took testimony from stakeholders across the state and recorded public comment. "We can't keep kicking the can on this issue," Krasner said, urging the Senate committee to turn the report’s recommendations into actionable bills.

Members said they view the landlord-tenant work as tied to broader housing availability and affordability efforts. Krasner said the study did not adopt a single legislative position but provided ranked recommendations and public testimony so lawmakers would have a record and options when drafting bills. She said the committee began late in the session (work began in October) and that several bills in the House and Senate have already used the report as a drafting source.

Legislative council attorney Cameron Wood reminded senators the study’s statutory charge did not require specific draft legislative language; the report instead was to assess whether landlord-tenant laws need modernization. Wood outlined options for next steps: continue the existing study committee, form a new committee, task an executive agency to draft language, or form an informal work group. Several senators said they preferred an informal "cafeteria" negotiation process — a series of facilitated, stakeholder-driven meetings — to hammer out compromise language outside of formal committee hearings.

Senators pressed on several substantive fronts raised in the study: balancing tenant protections with landlords’ property rights; tailoring eviction rules to address nonpayment versus behavioral and safety concerns; and ensuring any reform is equitable for both parties. Committee members also raised immigration-related concerns that intersect with housing — including a federal policy discussion about access to Social Security numbers for some migrants — and said they would coordinate with other committees as needed for identity-verification or finance-related proposals.

The committee asked Krasner to share a tightened witness list and the study committee’s report materials (public comment summaries appear early in the report; recommendations appear later). Senators said they will consider forming an informal working group before the next session with participating members from both chambers and legislative staff support to produce draft bills for January.

The committee did not take formal votes on draft language during the hearing and did not authorize new statutory targets at this meeting. Members described the next step as an internal, action-focused negotiation process to produce legislative draft(s) for early consideration.

The committee scheduled follow-up conversations with legislative staff and stakeholders and asked Krasner and other members to help convene the proposed informal working group.

The session closed with senators thanking Krasner for chairing the study committee and urging colleagues to review the report and consider summer work on concrete draft language.