November 15, 2018
The Honorable Muriel Bowser
Executive Office of the Mayor
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20004

Dear Mayor Bowser:
The organizations listed below write to respectfully request that you veto B22-92 - the Short-Term
Rental Regulation and Affordable Housing Protection Act. Our groups employ dozens of District
residents and have members who operate businesses in the nation’s capital. We made good faith efforts
to work with the District of Columbia Council to reach a compromise and amend the bill, but ultimately
the Council elected to pass a burdensome and costly piece of legislation. We believe that the only
prudent course of action would be to veto the bill and begin new negotiations on a fair regulatory
framework for short-term rentals in the District.
The District cannot afford to implement this bill. The most recent Fiscal Impact Statement puts the price
tag for implementation and enforcement at $104.1 million. It is our understanding, based on the Fiscal
Impact Statement, that the District does not have that level of funding available. Even if sufficient funds
were to be found, that money would be better spent on priorities that matter to D.C. residents, such as
safety, healthcare, and schools.
The $104.1 million price tag does not capture the full cost of this bill. By denying many District residents
the ability to rent out their homes, the Council is eliminating an important supplemental income stream
for homeowners. It would also take away a key income source for many local businesses. If enacted,
B22-92 would force the Department of Zoning to shut down nearly all existing short-term rentals. That
means that visitors would no longer have viable lodging options in all of the District’s eight wards. Short
term rentals in D.C. neighborhoods encourage visitors to support local restaurants in Petworth, or
breweries near Ivy City, or shops near Trinidad rather than just to a handful of businesses nearby hotels
in DC’s downtown core.
Washington, DC has the fourth-highest hotel rates in the nation, meaning that a hotel stay in the city is
not an option for many visitors. This problem would be made worse without the presence of short-term
rentals. The big hotel chains see short-term rentals as competition that constrains them from raising
room rates even higher. For instance, LaSalle Hotel Properties’ CEO told investors that a law curtailing
short-term rental services would allow hotels to boost their prices by eliminating competition. That
explains why the nation’s largest hotel chains recently announced they will spend half a million dollars
to get the city to pass this ordinance.
Extreme restrictions on short-term rentals are not only bad local policy but are also bad business
policy. It sends a message that DC is not open to innovative businesses and is not a place for the
technology sector to invest in. As champions for the travel and technology sectors, we have taken pride
in fostering the District’s reputation as an innovative and entrepreneurial leader. We are wholly
committed to improving the well-being of Washingtonians, small-business owners, visitors, students,
veterans, and more in the city through technological solutions.

 With your leadership, DC has taken concerted actions to position itself as a cultural center for business
and creativity, and allowing residents to open their homes through digital platforms like Airbnb,
HomeAway and VRBO to travelers enables that welcoming reputation to continue. The passage of B2292 is an alarming threat to the city’s exceptional standing for innovation. The DC-area reputation has
lured one of the largest tech companies to open a new HQ in our backyard. This anti-innovation
approach is a big step backward.
On these grounds, we urge you to swiftly veto B22-92, the Short-Term Rental Regulation and Affordable
Housing Protection Act. We, along with our member companies, look forward to working with you to
ensure that Washington, DC continues to be a leading destination for visitors, entrepreneurs, and
innovative technologies in all eight wards.

Sincerely,
Consumer Technology Association
Internet Association
NetChoice
TravelTech