From 1971 to 2023, 19 states, 24 counties, and 105 cities passed Source-of-Income Anti-Discrimination (SOI) laws, outlawing landlord discrimination against tenants receiving rental assistance. I present a theory of bureaucratic involvement in state and local policymaking, arguing that policy-interested local bureaucratic agencies—signaled by participation in a national membership organization—elevate mission-relevant policy problem definitions to the legislative agenda and motivate the passage of legislation. I present results from a Cox Proportional Hazards Model which demonstrates that SOI laws are significantly more likely to be enacted in cities, counties, and states associated with a public agency which is a member of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, even compared to jurisdictions associated with non-member Public Housing Authorities of similar sizes.
BarkTracey.2021. “Information Provision as Agenda Setting: A Study of Bureaucracy's Role in Higher Education Policy.” Regulation & Governance15 (2): 408–27. https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12293.
5.
BellAlisonSardBarbaraKoepnickBecky. 2018. Prohibiting Discrimination Against Renters Using Housing Vouchers Improves Results. Washington, DC: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
6.
BendorJ.GlazerA.HammondT.. 2001. “Theories of Delegation.” Annual Review of Political Science4: 235–69.
7.
BerryFrances StokesBerryWilliam D.. 1990. “State Lottery Adoptions as Policy Innovations: An Event History Analysis.” The American Political Science Review84 (2): 395–415. https://doi.org/10.2307/1963526.
8.
BerryFrances StokesBerryWilliam D.. 2018. “Innovation and Diffusion Models in the Policy Process.” In Theories of the Policy Process, edited by SabatierPaul A.WeibleChristopher M., 253–84. New York: Routledge.
9.
BesbrisMaxKukJohnOwensAnnSchachterAriela. 2022. “Predatory Inclusion in the Market for Rental Housing: A Multicity Empirical Test.” Socius8: 23780231221079001. https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231221079001.
10.
BrassilMargaret M.2010. The Creation of a Federal Partnership: The Role of the States in Affordable Housing, SUNY Series in Urban Public Policy. Albany: State University of New York Press.
11.
BrickerChristineLaCombeScott. 2020. “The Ties that Bind Us: The Influence of Perceived State Similarity on Policy Diffusion.” Political Research Quarterly74 (2): 377–87. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912920906611.
12.
BucchianeriPeterCarneyRileyEnosRyanLakemanAmyMalinaGabrielle. 2021. “What Explains Local Policy Cleavages? Examining the Policy Preferences of Public Officials at the Municipal Level.” Social Science Quarterly102 (6): 2752–60.
CooperChristopher A.RimesHeather. 2023. “Towards a Measure of Local Legislative Professionalism.” Urban Affairs Review60: 1254–71. https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231194937.
CunninghamMary K.GalvezMartha M.ArandaClaudiaSantosRobertWissokerDouglas A.OnetoAlyse D.PitingoloRobCrawfordJames. 2018. A Pilot Study of Landlord Acceptance of Housing Choice Vouchers. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
20.
DahlRobert A.1961. Who Governs? Democracy and Power in an American City, Yale Studies in Political Science. New Haven: Yale University Press.
21.
DeLucaStefanieGarbodenPhilip M. E.RosenblattPeter. 2013. “Segregating Shelter: How Housing Policies Shape the Residential Locations of Low-Income Minority Families.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science647: 268–99.
22.
EinsteinKatherine LevineGlickDavid MatthewPalmerMaxwell. 2020. Neighborhood Defenders: Participatory Politics and America's Housing Crisis. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
23.
ElkinStephen L.1987. City and Regime in the American Republic. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
24.
EllenIngrid GouldO'ReganKatherine M.HarwoodKatharine W. H.. 2023. “Advancing Choice in the Housing Choice Voucher Program: Source of Income Protections and Locational Outcomes.” Housing Policy Debate33 (4): 941–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2022.2089196.
25.
EllingRichard C.1999. “Administering State Programs: Performance and Politics.” In In Politics in the American States: A Comparative Analysis, edited by GrayVirginiaHansonRussell L.JacobHerbert. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
26.
FinkelMerylBuronLarry. 2001. Study on Section 8 Voucher Success Rates. Washington, DC: United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
FreemanLanceLiYunjing. 2014. “Do Source of Income Anti-Discrimination Laws Facilitate Access to Less Disadvantaged Neighborhoods?” Housing Studies29 (1): 88–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2013.824559.
29.
GalvezMartha M.2011. Defining “Choice” in the Housing Choice Voucher Program: The Role of Market Constraints and Household Preferences in Location Outcomes. New York, NY: ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
30.
GalvezMartha M.GreeneSolomonOnetoAlyse D.SpausterPatrick. 2020. Protecting Housing Choice Voucher Holders from Discrimination. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
31.
GarbodenPhilip M. E.RosenEvaDelucaStefanieKathrynEdin.. 2018. “Taking Stock: What Drives Landlord Participation in the Housing Choice Voucher Program.” Housing Policy Debate28 (6): 979–1003. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2018.1502202.
HangenForrestO’BrienDaniel T.. 2023. “The Choice to Discriminate: How Source of Income Discrimination Constrains Opportunity for Housing Choice Voucher Holders.” Urban Affairs Review (Thousand Oaks, Calif.)59 (5): 1601–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874221109591.
37.
HaysR. Allen. 2001. Who Speaks for the Poor: National Interest Groups and Social Policy, Politics and Policy in American Institutions. New York: Routledge.
38.
HaysR. Allen. 2012. “The Federal Government & Urban Housing.” In SUNY Series in Urban Public Policy, edited by Theodore KoebelC.. Albany: State University of New York Press.
39.
HopkinsDaniel J.2018. The Increasingly United States: How and Why American Political Behavior Nationalized, Chicago Studies in American Politics. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
40.
HuberJohn D.ShipanCharles R.. 2002. Deliberate Discretion: The Institutional Foundations of Bureaucratic Autonomy, Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
41.
JohnstonJocelyn M.2009. “Welfare Reform: A Devolutionary Success?” In Intergovernmental Management for the 21st Century, edited by Timothy ConlanJ.PosnerPaul L.RivlinAlice M.. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
42.
KatzBruceTurnerMargery Austin. 2000. Who Should Run the Housing Voucher Program? A Reform Proposal. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.
43.
KingdonJohn W.1984. Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies. New York: Harper Collins.
44.
KrysanMariaCrowderKyle. 2017. Cycle of Segregation: Social Processes and Residential Stratification. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
45.
LeeBarrett A.MatthewsStephenFowlerChristopherHallMatthew E. K.TachLauraFarrellChadSharpGregory. 2010. “Racial and Ethnic Diversity, 1980-2010: Data Files.” Diversity and Disparities.
46.
LiuXinshengLindquistEricVedlitzArnoldVincentKenneth. 2010. “Understanding Local Policymaking: Policy Elites’ Perceptions of Local Agenda Setting and Alternative Policy Selection.” Policy Studies Journal38 (1): 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0072.2009.00345.x.
47.
MakseToddVoldenCraig. 2011. “The Role of Policy Attributes in the Diffusion of Innovations.” The Journal of Politics73 (1): 108–24. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022381610000903.
48.
MalaspinaMark A.1996. “Demanding the Best: How to Restructure the Section 8 Household-Based Rental Assistance Program.” Yale Law & Policy Review14 (1): 287–351.
49.
MannaPaul.2006. School's In: Federalism and the National Education Agenda, American Governance and Public Policy Series. Washington, D.C: Georgetown University Press.
50.
McCabeBrian J.2016. No Place Like Home: Wealth, Community, and the Politics of Homeownership. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
51.
McCarthyDanny.2020. HB20-1332: Prohibit Housing Discrimination Source of Income. http://www.prrac.org/pdf/successful-2020-colorado-state-soi-campaign.pdf.
52.
McCubbinsMathew D.NollRoger G.WeingastBarry R.. 1987. “Administrative Procedures as Instruments of Political Control.” Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization3 (2): 243–77.
53.
McCubbinsMathewSchwartzThomas. 1984. “Congressional Oversight Overlooked: Police Patrols Versus Fire Alarms.” American Journal of Political Science28 (1): 165–165. https://doi.org/10.2307/2110792.
54.
MeachemA. Fulton. 2020. Housing for Everyone—Addressing Barriers to Opportunity. INLIVIAN.
55.
MollenkopfJohnPynoosJon. 1980. “Boardwalk and Park Place: Property Ownership, Political Structure, and Housing Policy at the Local Level.” In Housing Urban America, edited by PynoosJonSchaferRobertHartmanChester W.. New York: Aldine Publishing Company.
56.
National Conference of State Legislatures. 2023. State Partisan Composition.
57.
NewmanBenjamin J.RenyTyler ThomasOoiBea-Sim. 2022. “The Color of Disparity: Racialized Income Inequality and Support for Liberal Economic Policies.” The Journal of Politics, 84 (3): 1818–22. https://doi.org/10.1086/718289.
58.
Poverty & Race Research Action Council. 2020. Crafting a strong and effective source of income discrimination law.
59.
Poverty & Race Research Action Council. 2023. “Appendix B: State, Local, and Federal Laws Barring Source-of-Income Discrimination.” Poverty & Race Research Action Council, accessed March 16. https://www.prrac.org/pdf/AppendixB.pdf.
60.
RofaelMiriam Elnemr. 2019. “Improving the Housing Choice Voucher Program Through Source of Income Discrimination Laws.” California Law Review107 (5): 1635. https://doi.org/10.15779/Z38QF8JK1D.
61.
RogersEverett M.2004. Diffusion of Innovations. 5th ed. New York: Free Press.
62.
RosenEva.2014. “Rigging the Rules of the Game: How Landlords Geographically Sort Low-Income Renters.” City & Community13 (4): 310–40. https://doi.org/10.1111/cico.12087.
63.
RosenEva.2020. The Voucher Promise: “Section 8” and the Fate of an American Neighborhood, Book Collections on Project MUSE. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
64.
RRH Elections. 2018. Alaska Results by County Equivalent, 1960-2016.
65.
RRH Elections. 2021. Alaska Presidential Results by County Equivalent, 1960-2020.
66.
SandersHeywood T.StoneClarence N.. 1987. The Politics of Urban Development, Studies in Government and Public Policy. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.
67.
SardBarbaraThropeDeborah. 2016. Consolidating Rental Assistance Administration Would Increase Efficiency and Expand Opportunity. Washington, DC: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
68.
ShipanCharles R.VoldenCraig. 2008. “The Mechanisms of Policy Diffusion.” American Journal of Political Science52 (4): 840–57.
69.
SossJoeFordingRichard C.SchramSanford F.. 2008. “The Color of Devolution: Race, Federalism, and the Politics of Social Control.” American Journal of Political Science52 (3): 536–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2008.00328.x.
70.
SossJoeFordingRichard C.SchramSanford. 2011. Disciplining the Poor: Neoliberal Paternalism and the Persistent Power of Race, Chicago Studies in American Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
71.
StoneClarence N.1989. Regime Politics: Governing Atlanta, 1946-1988, Studies in Government and Public Policy. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.
72.
StoneClarence N.1993. “Urban Regimes and the Capacity to Govern: A Political Economy Approach.” Journal of Urban Affairs15 (1): 1–28.
73.
StoneClarence N.MurinWilliam J.WhelanRobert K.. 1986. Urban Policy and Politics in a Bureaucratic Age. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
74.
TigheJ. RosieHatchMegan E.MeadJoseph. 2017. “Source of Income Discrimination and Fair Housing Policy.” Journal of Planning Literature32 (1): 3–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/0885412216670603.
75.
TrounstineJessica.2018. Segregation by Design: Local Politics and Inequality in American Cities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
76.
United States Census Bureau. 1980a. County Intercensal Tables: 1970-1979. Census.gov.
77.
United States Census Bureau. 1980b. State Intercensal Tables: 1970-1980. Census.gov.
78.
United States Census Bureau. 1985. Census CPS/HVS Historical Tables Table 1. Census.gov.
79.
United States Census Bureau. 2020. Census CPS/HVS Annual Statistics 2020 Table 3. Census.gov.
80.
United States Census Bureau. 2021. County Population by Characteristics: 2020-2021. Census.gov.
81.
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R). 2022. Picture of Subsidized Households. Washington, DC: HUD User.
82.
United States Census Bureau. 2022a. Census CPS/HVS Quarterly Table 1. Census.gov.
83.
United States Census Bureau. 2022b. State Population by Characteristics: 2020-2022. Census.gov.
84.
United States Census Bureau. 2022c. Housing Vacancies and Homeownership (CPS/HVS): Annual Statistics: 2022 (Including Historical Data by State and MSA): Table 6a & Table 6b. Census.gov.
85.
United States Census Bureau. 2022d. Housing Vacancies and Homeownership (CPS/HVS): Quarterly Vacancy and Homeownership Rates by State and MSA Table 4. Census.gov.
86.
WeberMax.1952. “The Essentials of Bureaucratic Organization: An Ideal-Type Construction.” In In Reader in Bureaucracy, edited by King MertonRobertGrayAlisa PHockeyBarbaraSelvinHanan C.. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
87.
WilsonJames Q.1989. Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It. New York: Basic Books.
88.
WorkmanSamuel.2015. The Dynamics of Bureaucracy in the U.S. Government: How Congress and Federal Agencies Process Information and Solve Problems, Dynamics of Bureaucracy in the United States Government. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
89.
WorkmanSamuelShafranJoBethBarkTracey. 2017. “Problem Definition and Information Provision by Federal Bureaucrats.” Cognitive Systems Research43: 140–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsys.2016.11.002.
