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Advocates urge Senate to restore lead‑abatement funding cut in House HB96
Summary
Ohio Healthy Homes Network and Lehigh Free Kids Coalition asked the Senate to restore funding the House cut for lead abatement and lead‑safe home programs, warning the state has among the highest elevated blood lead rates in the nation.
Fred Strayhorn, executive director of the Ohio Healthy Homes Network and a leader with the Lehigh Free Kids Coalition, told the Senate Health Committee that the House version of HB96 significantly reduced or eliminated funding for the state’s lead abatement and lead‑safe home programs and asked the Senate to restore the governor’s original funding levels.
Strayhorn said Ohio ranks second worst in the nation for children testing positive for elevated blood lead levels and that roughly two‑thirds of Ohio housing potentially contains lead paint. He warned that, without restored funding, the Ohio Department of Health could lose capacity to test children, investigate lead hazards, provide interventions for families and fund local lead‑safe programs. “If this money is not restored, the Ohio Department of Health… will cease to be able to test children for lead poisoning, conduct lead investigations, provide intervention services,” Strayhorn said.
Why it matters: Lead exposure in young children causes irreversible developmental harm. Advocates said the proposed cuts would undermine a multi‑year funding effort and risk increasing preventable harm among Ohio’s youngest residents.
No votes were recorded during the hearing.
