Despite compromises that narrowed the scope of the bill, a measure to allow a one-time, “clean slate” for tenants facing eviction proceedings was defeated Thursday by a filibuster.
Under Legislative Bill 175, the Residential Tenant Clean Slate Act, a tenant who faced an eviction notice that was later dismissed or vacated would have that action “sealed” from public view. That way, a tenant who faced an eviction that was later dropped would not be penalized when seeking new housing.
Under a compromise, the clean slate would be allowed only once, and a controversial amendment to require jury trials in eviction cases was dropped.
Same as criminal law
State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, who introduced the bill, said sealing such dismissed actions would mirror state criminal records, which only reflect when someone is actually convicted of a crime.
But Dunbar Sen. Julie Slama mounted a two-day filibuster of the bill, arguing that even the slimmed-down version of LB 175 represented a “gimme” that would block landlords from learning about problems with potential tenants.
She said it represented a “slippery slope” in which further steps would be taken to bar landlords from determining whether a new tenant was a good risk.
Omaha Sen. Wendy DeBoer, who chose the bill as her personal priority, disputed that, saying a previous landlord could still warn a prospective landlord about a problem tenant.
Dungan said the compromises he agreed to Wednesday with the main opponents of the bill, the state Realtors and landlord association, turned them into supporters.
There was also a long debate about “respecting” the committee process, because the senators with the most knowledge about the issue, those on the Judiciary Committee, advanced LB 175 on a rare 8-0 vote.
The committee has been evenly divided thise year between conservatives and progressives, leading to a lot of 4-4 deadlocks on advancing proposals.
But Slama continued her filibuster despite all that and picked up more opponents to the bill Thursday.
The vote for cloture — to stop the filibuster and pass the amended bill — fell three votes short of the 33 votes needed.
The 30-16 vote on closure Thursday contrasted with a 32-11 vote on Wednesday to adopt the compromise to LB 175.
