A divided Lexington council will soon take up a vote on whether landlords can discriminate against residents who use federal vouchers and other sources of income to pay their rent.

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council voted 12-2 Tuesday to put the ordinance, which would prohibit landlords from discriminating against renters who use other sources of income besides employment, on its docket for Thursday.

The council will give it a first reading to the ordinance on Thursday. A final vote could come as early as Feb. 15.

The council has been discussing a ban on source of income discrimination for months. A council committee voted 7-3 on Jan. 24 to move the ordinance to the full council. The council has had multiple meetings about the proposal.

Meanwhile, the Kentucky General Assembly is moving two bills forward prohibiting local governments from enacting such bans. The House passed House Bill 18 last week. That bill now goes to the Senate. Meanwhile, Senate Bill 25, which is similar but not the same as H.B. 18, also passed the Senate last week. Neither bill is final yet.

Many Lexington council members expressed reservations Tuesday about moving the ordinance forward due to the pending bills in Frankfort.

Councilman Chuck Ellinger mentioned both the House and Senate have passed bills by an overwhelmingly majority, largely along party lines, with Republicans voting in favor and Democrats against.

“Right now, it’s a little premature,” Ellinger said.

Ellinger made a motion to table the ordinance until March 5, which was defeated 10-4. Those who voted in favor of tabling include Ellinger, Fred Brown, Whitney Elliott Baxter and Kathy Plomin.

Councilwoman Liz Sheehan said securing safe, stable housing is necessary.

“I do have some concerns about the timing of this,” Sheehan said due to the pending legislation in Frankfort. Sheehan ultimately voted in favor of putting the ordinance on the Feb. 1 council agenda.

Vice Mayor Dan Wu said he thought the city had spent a lot of time working on the ordinance.

“I’m a big fan of home rule, which simply means local government gets to govern,” Wu said. Wu said it is up to Lexington council members to make laws and ordinances to govern the city, not the Kentucky General Assembly.

“Do we not want to pass any potential controversial legislation in the four months they are doing work?” Wu said.

Councilwoman Denise Gray agreed. “Waiting is not an option. We have residents of Lexington who deserve housing.”

Ellinger and Fred Brown voted against putting the ordinance on the docket for Thursday.

Those who back the bill say too many people with federal housing vouchers, called Housing Choice, struggle to find landlords to take those vouchers. Many social service providers have said people are waiting months to leave city-paid-for shelters because they can’t find landlords that take housing vouchers. Others say the majority of Fayette County federal housing voucher recipients are Black. Yet the majority of rental properties that take federal housing vouchers are largely in the north part of town or areas with higher concentrations of minorities.

Landlords have said they don’t want to be forced to take someone on a voucher, and do not want to be forced to participate in a federal program that requires inspections and other rules.

Councilmembers David Sevigny and Shayla Lynch, co-sponsors of the local ordinance, testified before House and Senate committees earlier this month, asking the legislature not to pass the bills.