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Arizona governor sticks up for Airbnb in new law

The legislation prevents cities from banning short-term rentals on their own.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed SB 1350 today, which will prevent cities in the state from banning short-term rental services like Airbnb or HoweAway. According to an earlier report from Forbes, Governor Ducey's end goal is to turn Arizona into The Sharing Economy State, which is a little different from the state's current motto of "God enriches."

A lobbyist group called Travel Technology Association, which counts Airbnb and Expedia among its members, obviously supports the bill, saying in a statement that it is "a win for everyone" and "Arizona has proven itself to be forward-thinking when it comes to public policy, willing to embrace the peer-to-peer economy while also balancing the interests of all stakeholders." Governor Ducey has also been selling it as a move that will inject tourism dollars directly in the pockets of Arizonans, rather than the big hotel chains.

On the other end of the spectrum, however, Berlin recently banned whole-apartment rentals through the Airbnb, while the company itself has been cracking down on illegal hotels in its hometown of San Francisco.