2008 Indiana General Assembly

    Several bills of interest to children's environmental health were introduced in the General Assembly this year.  For information about the Session, Legislators, and bills that made it through to the end, use the General Assembly website at http://www.in.gov/legislative.

Here are some highlights:

Senate Bill 143, introduced by Senator Beverly Gard.  The bill addresses the problem of childhood lead poisoning prevention in a comprehensive way, including provisions that will:

• increase blood lead screening of young children

• make daycare centers safer

• require remediation of housing where children have actually been poisoned

• establish a schedule for inspection of older rental housing for lead-based paint so that future buyers and tenants will have information about possible risks

• establish an Advisory Committee to make recommendations for long term solutions

• require training of contractors and remodelers so that they will use lead-safe work practices when disturbing paint in older homes

• give state and local health departments tools to address lead-containing consumer products sold in Indiana retail stores and prohibit retailers from removing or obscuring product labels that warn of lead content

THE LATEST....

• the bill has been approved by both the Senate (47-0) and the House (51-49 in a strict party vote) and now awaits signature by the governor, which should happen by March 24 or so

• some of the more progressive provisions of the bill were removed during the course of an extremely contentious session.  More details on that to follow

• the bill retains provisions on retail stores, renovators/remodelers, the Lead Poisoning Prevention fund, and study committees to focus on housing and childcare.  See the fact sheet below for more detail.

This bill is a great step forward in Indiana for protecting our children from childhood lead poisoning.  There are a number of legislators firmly committed to even further progress in future years.  Many thanks to author Senator Beverly Gard and co sponsors Senator Pat Miller, Senator John Broden, Senator Earline Rogers, Representative Charlie Brown and Representative John Day!

Resources

• Fact Sheet

• Senate Enrolled Act 143 (final law)