COC equal opportunities commission city annex, 351 west wilson street madison, wisconsin 53703 telephone 608 266-4910 paul r. soglin, mayor john chico hilton, chairman James c. wright, executive director March 4, 1975 TESTIMONY AT A JOINT HEARING OF THE SENATE JUDICIARY AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS COMMITTEE AND THE ASSEMBLY JUDICIARY COMMITTEE ON AB-431 I am here to present testimony on behalf of the City of Mad- ison Equal Opportunities Commission on AB-431. The Commission supports the bill as a whole and would like to comment specifically on the proposed changes in the state statutes affecting housing opportunities. The statutory changes would extend existing laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, creed or national origin to cover sex discrimination as well. Specifically the changes would outlaw sex discrimination in veterans housing, housing projects for the elderly and low income groups, urban redevelopment programs, blight elimination and slum clearance programs. It would also prohibit sex discrimination by the con- tractors who build such projects and would extend recourse under state law to victims of sex discrimination where it already exists for victims of discrimination based on race, national origin, or ancestry, creed or color. The city of Madison Equal Opportunities Ordinance already includes prohibition of sex discrimination in housing. This means thet the EOC accepts and investigates complaints in this area. Some of these complaints are from single women with depen- dents who are considered "bad risks" by landlords regardless of what credit references show. Others are from women (and sometimes men) who are denied housing becausing a landlord has personal feelings that members of one sex or the other are more noisy, or less clean, or less reliable. The notion still exists, for instance, that women living alone have suspect morals and are going to disturb the peace of other tenants with a stream of male visitors. These are examples of the type of complaint the EOC has been able to accept for investigation in the housing area which the state Equal Rights Division has not been able to accept. The pro- posed changes in AB-431 would extend to women of the whole state recourse which only women in certain municipalities now enjoy. OF MADISON WISCONS PATED PARCH 1836 --- Page 2. As cited above, in some cases they would also help protect men from arbitrary applications of stereotypes based on sex. In practical terms, it would mean that the Madison Equal Opportunities Commission could refer complaints of sex discrimination in housing to the state Equal Rights Division when we do not have jurisdiction. Finally, it would mean that state equal housing opportunity laws would be brought into line with Title 8 of the Housing and Urban Development Act as amended in 1974. Thank you. TESTIMONY PRESENTED BY Sheila Hegy Swanson ---