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Advocates urge Senate to restore lead-abatement and Lead Safe Home Fund funding cut in House budget
Summary
Lead‑safety advocates told the Senate Health Committee that cuts in the House‑passed HB 96 would cripple Ohio’s lead testing, investigations and hazard‑control work and urged restoration of the governor’s funding level.
Fred Strayhorn, executive director of the Ohio Healthy Homes Network and a leader in the Lead Free Kids Coalition, told the Senate Health Committee the House-passed version of HB 96 cut funding for lead abatement and the Lead Safe Home Fund, and he urged senators to restore the governor’s proposed levels.
"Ohio is the second worst state in the nation with regard to kids testing positive for elevated blood lead levels," Strayhorn said. He told the committee that about two‑thirds of Ohio housing likely contains lead paint and estimated roughly 427,000 homes are occupied by children under age 6 in structures with lead hazards. He said that without restored funding the Ohio Department of Health would be unable to test children, conduct investigations or provide interventions and hazard‑control services.
Strayhorn asked the committee to restore both the lead-abatement line item (44,0527 in testimony materials) and the Lead Safe Home Fund line item (44,053), and he warned that failure to do so would represent a departure from a longstanding bipartisan commitment to protect children.
No committee action occurred during the hearing; Strayhorn and coalition partners requested the Senate restore the governor’s funding levels so the state can continue testing, investigations and hazard-control programs.
