A piece of legislation advocated by Airbnb that would restrain travellers Short-term rental regulations in Nashville appear to have died in a House committee on Tuesday, but lobbyists have the option of reviving the legislation as long as the legislature is in session.

House Local Government Committee Chairman Jeremy Faison, the bill’s primary proponent, withdrew his initial attempt and substituted a compromise amendment to change the state’s short-term rental regulations.

However, when challenged, the East Tennessee Republican declined to swear that he would not resurrect his attacks on Nashville’s restrictions once the bill reached the House floor.

The bill was voted rejected by an overwhelming voice vote by the committee members.

Residents in the neighbourhood were ecstatic.

According to Metro Council member Burkley Allen, “a lot of folks that worked extremely hard simply to tell the lawmakers what they truly vote for felt like we were there.” As one participant put it, “The conversation had me quite worried, therefore the end was really pleasing and surprising.”

For NewsChannel 5’s “Revealed,” that legislation served as an illustration of how Tennessee’s Capitol Hill operates.

Since its legislative activities began, Airbnb has given its lobbying team $40,000 to help them fund their attempts to persuade legislators.

We also found evidence that the bill’s proponents were deliberately misinforming their colleagues about the genuine aim of the legislation.

Nashville’s existing rules restrict short-term rentals to “owner-occupied” properties where the owner is a permanent resident.

Instead of requiring an owner to dwell in their rental property in Nashville, an Airbnb bill said that a “clear intention” of returning was all that was required.

It would have been more difficult for Nashville to revoke the licences of serial offenders had it not been for this law.