Arizona’s Republican governor Doug Ducey has signed a bill prohibiting cities and local municipalities from banning short-term rentals such as Airbnb. The signing of the SB 1350 into law is just another step in Ducey’s plan to turn Arizona into a “sharing economy.” In his January State of the State address, Ducey was quoted as saying, “Arizona should be to the Sharing what Texas is to Oil and what Silicon Valley used to be to the tech industry.”
It is his belief that the law can aid in injected profits from tourism to the local economy. The signing of the bill may open the possibility of other states following Arizona’s lead. An uphill battle has been fought by Airbnb in the state of California; San Franciscans voted against a measure that sought the regulation of short-term rentals within the city. The startup’s troubles are not yet over, although a ray of hope has been provided.
