Legislative Testimony for LB631: Prohibit counties from prohibiting the use of residential property as short-term rentals

Chairman Brewer and members of the committee, my name is Laura Ebke. I am the Senior Fellow at the Platte Institute, and I am happy to be here today to testify in support of LB631 and thank Sen. Bostar for introducing it.

Property rights are a foundational principle of our republic. In 2019, this Legislature passed LB57, which prohibited cities and villages from enacting ordinances that would prohibit the use of a property as a short-term rental—in other words, AirBNBs, VRBOs, and similar services.

This bill, quite simply, places the terms found in Section 1 of LB57 into Chapter 23 of the Nebraska Revised Statutes and prohibits counties from doing the same thing.

Subject to otherwise contracted/limited actions with one’s property–such as through covenants or homeowners associations–property owners should be able to use their property, free of government infringement, for otherwise lawful purposes.

This bill allows homeowners who may have rental properties or second homes to use them for short term rentals, should they choose to do so. We don’t believe that counties that levy taxes on private property should place limits on how property owners can sublet their property provided that no real harm is being done to others in the process.

We encourage the advancement of LB631 to the floor.