Texas lawmakers are making a second run at tearing down the short-term rental restrictions of Austin and other cities.

Identical bills filed this session in the House and Senate would require cities to allow short-term rentals and would allow only limited restrictions on them.

Such rentals, facilitated by online booking sites such as Airbnb and HomeAway, have boomed, especially in neighborhoods close to downtown. Some property owners have complained about having to live next to party houses that are effectively hotels, but others have argued that they should be able to rent their properties if they choose.

The proposed bills are similar to measures debated during the last legislative session, which passed in the Senate but did not make it through committee in the House. Austin Mayor Steve Adler testified against that 2017 bill, speaking about the difference in quality of life in a neighborhood comprising full-time residents who know one another versus one with homes owned by outside investors who rent them full time to tourists.

Austin city policies put strict capacity limits on short-term rentals and phase out full-time, full-home rentals by 2022.

The bills filed this month by state Sen. Pat Fallon, R-Prosper, and state Rep. Angie Chen Button, R-Richardson, would keep municipalities from prohibiting or limiting short-term rentals. Cities would be allowed to regulate only things like food preparation and health inspections in such rentals. Capacity limits would be allowed only on a per-bedroom basis, not on a per-property basis.

Regulations regarding noise and parking would be required to apply to properties, regardless of whether they are rentals.

Cities would be allowed to license short-term rentals, for a maximum fee of $450. (Austin's fee is currently $500.) The number of full-time rentals with absentee owners could be limited in residential areas as long as no more than 12.5 percent of the total number of residential properties in the city are ineligible.

The bills would not prevent condos, co-ops or homeowners’ associations from restricting short-term rentals.

Groups including the Real Estate Council of Austin, Expedia, HomeAway and TurnKey Vacation Rentals cheered the proposed bills Monday.

“Many Texas cities have chosen to enact harmfully, constitutionally questionable and largely ineffective ordinances to restrict or outright prohibit homeowners from renting their homes on a short-term basis,” the groups said in an open letter. “These ordinances may intentionally or inadvertently have the effect of banning short-term rentals, or severely limiting or restricting private property rights.”

The groups said they had formed a nonprofit coalition called Texans for Property and Rental Rights.

Austin City Council Member Kathie Tovo, whose district includes most of downtown, said she expects Austin and other cities to oppose the bills, as they did last session. She said Austin developed its rules, and the phase-out of full-time rentals, after hearing numerous complaints about those rentals adversely affecting neighborhoods.

"Our community asked us to protect their private property rights by ensuring these commercial rentals aren't happening in residential areas," she said. "What we saw in certain areas of town is that one investor-owned rental would have enough of an impact that others would transition to being full-time rentals. ... People don't want to live next door to a mini-hotel."

Tovo said she hopes residents from tourist cities and beach towns across the state will weigh in on the proposed bills.

"I'm certainly concerned," she said. "I'm not surprised because we're talking about major companies who employ lots of lobbyists. I hope the legislators at the Capitol will listen to constituents who are urging that municipalities keep the authority to regulate zoning."