A complete intelligence dossier on every bill, hearing, and witness moment touching short-term rentals across all 50 states, federal, and the cities where the fights are loudest. Sourced from the USLege platform.
Color reflects net policy direction; intensity reflects volume of bills, hearings, and witness traffic this session.
Five states are doing more than the rest combined. AZ leads the preemption push; HI is the most aggressive restrictive state in the country.
The most concentrated battle in the country. Six near-identical preemption bills + two restrictive counter-bills.
Maui crisis politics. Lender foreclosure mandates and mandatory enforcement agency — no other state has gone this far.
NYC's Local Law 18 model is being exported to upstate. Multiple statewide registration bills are pending.
Fires + housing crisis fueling pressure. LA Vacation Rental Ordinance is the headline event.
The bright spot. Tenant STR rights bills + centralized tax model both have Airbnb support — and Airbnb in-house counsel testifying.
Every meaningful state-level STR bill in 2025–2026, classified by direction and tagged by stakes.
Preempts local bans · Standardizes statewide rules · Tenant rights · Centralized tax remittance
Statewide enforcement · Lender foreclosure · Address disclosure · Junk-fee disclosure · Tax expansion
In-house counsel, contract lobbyists, and partner firms representing Airbnb across hearings this session.
Bercher confirmed bill does not prevent local jurisdictions from regulating STRs and allows one-unit-per-jurisdiction limits — economic benefit for tenants without preempting cities.
Open clip · 2:20 →Cited Tennessee implementation: 320% lift in collections on the Airbnb platform after centralized remittance. Win-win framing for jurisdictions and platforms.
Open clip · 2:18:00 →Negotiated amendment so platforms participate in training framework drafting alongside GHLA and AG's office. Owner-managed STRs without third-parties carved out.
Open clip · 40:55 →Valderrama framed bill as enabling Airbnb-style rentals only where municipalities permit, with absolute landlord veto rights. Built on UK precedent.
Open clip · 1:36:50 →Berkeley Mayor noted she helped write Berkeley's STR ordinance and negotiated with Airbnb and Expedia on collection terms. Legal landscape changed since.
Open clip · 3:09:40 →Acknowledged "hosted STRs were the foundation of companies like Airbnb" — disappointed bill only addresses listed historic properties but supportive of Gov. Kotek's housing crisis effort.
Open clip · 18:00 →Witness specifically flagged that Airbnb and STR Association did not participate in the qualified agreement process — notable absence on a 2-decade ordinance refinement.
Open clip · 5:58:15 →El Paso County coordinated with Airbnb, the State Comptroller, and Senator Blanco to kill an STR-unfavorable HOT bill before its hearing — coalition advocacy worked.
Open clip · 5:00:05 →Mayors, hotel associations, tenant advocates, and neighborhood opposition. The fights to know about.
"What Airbnb supports in these two items is not common sense" — opposition explicitly called out Airbnb's PR framing on the LA ordinance debate.
Open clip · 3:38:20 →Mayor testified preemption infringes on constitutionally protected home rule. Township Association suggested supporting bill only if local STR ban authority preserved.
Open clip · 1:24:55 →"STR is a $68B business expected to grow 20% by 2030" — CLA supports statewide registry for accountability while pushing for separate tax framework targeting Airbnb/VRBO.
Open clip · 4:43:40 →Witness alleged Airbnb is incentivizing 30+ day rentals to make state STR definitions obsolete. Cites Airbnb financial reports as evidence of platform strategy shift.
Open clip · 2:20 →"This bill helps platforms like Airbnb — saturates the market without local control. Investors with multiple STRs aren't invested in the community."
Open clip · 42:35 →Even with platform amendment removing Airbnb liability: "We're not here because of the platform — we're here because of our hosts. They operate lawfully." Operator-side concern.
Open clip · 1:09:30 →"If there are 100 Airbnbs in Memphis, 99 are fine — but the bad ones include shootings and murder." State law creates challenges for retroactive enforcement.
Open clip · 5:15:25 →"They're horrible, they're bad for our neighborhoods" — Council member explicitly tied STR concentration near IU stadium to noise, party, and quality-of-life complaints.
Open clip · 31:30 →"Hensley v. Gadd (2018) — Kentucky Supreme Court found STR through platforms like Airbnb or VRBO is commercial, not residential, in nature." Active precedent in zoning fights.
Open clip · 39:55 →Floor debate on whether 30+ day Airbnb listings should be impacted by STR legislation. Resolution: "If you're renting for more than 30 days, it's not a short-term rental."
Open clip · 18:20 →Airbnb data cited: 95% of hosts own ≤3 properties. STR contributes 25% of overall room tax now. Defense against "all hosts are large investors" narrative.
Open clip · 42:50 →Senate amendment offered "more robust definition of what an owner is" — tightens ownership classification specifically targeting Airbnb-style operations.
Open clip · 37:15 →Landlord opposition framed bill as forcing landlords to allow tenants to Airbnb — even with veto language, owner-side concern about subletting.
Open clip · 6:00 →Drafting clarification confirmed lodging tax intended to capture Airbnb stays + any rental shorter than 30 days. Active reviser's office work to close loophole.
Open clip · 3:23:15 →Debate confirmed STRs in NM taxed at residential rate (gross receipts + lodgers + hospitality = ~15%). 0.058% of housing stock — small but politically active.
Open clip · 46:25 →Council debating dedicated street use — STR/Airbnb vs bulk monthly lease classification a key decision point in zoning approvals.
Open clip · 1:14:05 →Interim committee laying groundwork for HB 2481 — STR identified as "house rented over and over week at a time" needing definition framework.
Open clip · 6:21:50 →2019 Airbnb-Mobile tax agreement cited as evidence of pre-existing STR use, but BoA challenged that anonymous tax payments don't establish lawful nonconforming status.
Open clip · 1:05:55 →"Someone stays at a STR for three days, gets cleaned Wednesday, someone comes Thursday. The verification process — fire extinguishers — local jurisdictions need to figure out compliance."
Open clip · 31:55 →Cities, counties, and zoning boards taking direct action — independent of state legislatures.
Congress has not introduced sweeping STR-specific legislation this session, but several adjacent federal bills could reshape the rental landscape — particularly antitrust-flavored algorithmic pricing legislation that could affect dynamic pricing platforms.