Some Republican lawmakers want to revisit a 2016 law that prohibited municipalities from stopping the listing of short-term rentals and vacation homes.
At the time Gov. Doug Ducey said the law would allow citizens to make extra money by opening up their homes to companies like Airbnb. But it did have some unintended consequences as there are estimates that up to 40% of residential properties in tourist destinations like Sedona are now vacation rentals.
Rep. Walt Blackman says the power to regulate the rentals is in the wrong hands.
"That should be decided at the lowest level of government. And that's the mayors. That's the city councils. And those are the people that live in that area. That's why I think we should push regulation back to that level so folks can make their own decisions," Blackman said.
There were some amendments made to the law in 2019 to allow cities to put in safety regulations, like mandating contacts for those vacation homes.
