Senate OKs Tough Housing Bias Ban : Sponsors Call Bill to Enforce Fairness Biggest Civil Rights Gain in 20 Years

WASHINGTON — With a blessing in advance from President Reagan, the Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that strengthens enforcement against race or sex discrimination in the sale or rental of homes and for the first time forbids housing bias against the disabled and families with children. The vote was 94 to 3.

Described by its sponsors as the most important civil rights legislation in two decades, the bill differs only slightly from a measure adopted by the House on June 29 by an overwhelming margin of 376 to 23.

The two measures are expected to be reconciled with little difficulty by a Senate-House conference committee, and a final version is expected to be sent quickly to the White House for the President’s signature.

Last Effort Filibustered

The Senate action represented a major change from the political climate in 1980, when the last concerted effort to put teeth into the 1968 Fair Housing Act was stymied by a nine-day Senate filibuster led by Southern conservatives of both parties.

On Tuesday, however, leading conservative Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) joined with liberal Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) in supporting new federal powers to enforce the law against housing discrimination. For some, it was an election-year opportunity to go on record in favor of civil rights.

Only three of the most conservative Republican senators--Jesse Helms of North Carolina, Steve Symms of Idaho and Gordon J. Humphrey of New Hampshire--bucked the tide and voted against the bill.

Kennedy, steering the legislation through the Senate with only minor opposition, exulted in the outcome.

“What a beautiful moment it is--the 20-year logjam on fair housing is finally breaking. This is the most important expansion of civil rights in the last 20 years,” he said.

Reagan, following the lead of Vice President George Bush, endorsed the Senate bill in a statement on Monday after it incorporated several changes worked out with Samuel R. Pierce Jr., the secretary of housing and urban development and the only black in Reagan’s Cabinet.

Presumed Republican presidential nominee Bush, in a rare exception to his rule of remaining silent on legislation until the President has given his view, came out for quick passage of the bill before it was debated in the House in an apparent bid to improve his civil rights image. Democratic presidential nominee Michael S. Dukakis has also endorsed the action.

Unusual Alliance

In a switch from the past, national home builders groups and real estate agents worked with civil rights organizations to help arrange legislative compromises and get the bill through the House and Senate.

Passage was helped by a report from HUD that said racial discrimination in housing was still “pervasive” and estimated that 2 million people, primarily blacks, experienced such bias every year.

Under the Senate and House bills, HUD would be able for the first time to investigate and prosecute if it believed that discrimination existed in home sales or apartment rentals. Under existing law, the federal agency has little enforcement power and its role is limited primarily to conciliation attempts. Also, individuals who complain of bias have to file lawsuits on their own in federal courts to seek relief.

A key compromise would allow those accused of violating the Fair Housing Act, or those who bring the charges, to request a jury trial. Otherwise, an administrative law judge would decide the case within strict time limits. The judge could impose fines up to $10,000 for first-time violators and up to $50,000 for anyone found guilty of three such offenses in a seven-year period.

In addition, the bill provides that housing judges could issue injunctions and award compensatory damages, although their rulings could be reviewed by federal appeals courts.

Protection for Families

A major innovation in the Senate and House versions would outlaw housing discrimination against families with children under 18, or similar bias against expectant mothers or anyone adopting a child. Exemptions would be provided, however, for retirement communities where most of the residents were older than 55. The two bills differ in the percentage of the communities that must be occupied by senior citizens in order to qualify for the exemption.

Another expansion of current law in the legislation would forbid discrimination against physically or mentally handicapped home buyers or tenants, although the Senate voted 89 to 2 to exclude transvestites from the protections.

Another amendment would allow landlords or real estate firms to bar twice-convicted drug dealers from apartments or homes without fear of triggering a discrimination complaint. The legislation also would require owners of rental properties to allow physically disabled tenants to make reasonable alterations in a home or apartment to improve access and convenience.

Another provision would require new apartment buildings to make doorways and light switches accessible for those in wheelchairs, and to provide special studs for installation of grab bars in bathrooms. This would apply to all units in apartment buildings with elevators and to the ground-floor units of buildings without elevators.

In opposing the bill, Humphrey argued that the new construction requirements would raise housing costs.