STOP LEAD POISONING - PLEASE ACT NOW TO PROTECT CHILDREN’S HEALTH & WORKERS

Summary: Stop the effort to repeal the new landmark lead poisoning prevention law, LD 1034, a month after it was signed into law! Immediately contact Appropriations Committee members, the Governor and Democratic Leaders TODAY. PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS ALERT TO OTHER CONCERNED CITIZENS.

Threat: As a result of industry lobbying and partisan politics, a serious threat has been mounted to repeal LD 1034, An Act to Prevent Lead Poisoning of Children and Adults, which has become a hostage victim in the bond negotiations. LD 1034 was signed into law on June 17 after receiving strong bipartisan support in the Legislature. LD 1034 will raise $2.5 million over 5 years from a fee on paint manufacturers to fund educational outreach to prevent lead poisoning, especially from old lead paint dust. (See linked news release for further details on the importance of this bill).

Why is MOFGA involved? MOFGA actively supported L.D. 1034 as well as the bond request for lead cleanup, as part of a broad-based environmental health coalition, the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine. As we testified at a legislative hearing this winter, lead is showing up not only in the dust and paint chips in Maine homes, but also in some of our salads and dinners....Lead can flake off older homes, contaminate soils around the homes, and making the traditional "kitchen garden" a toxic threat to Maine families seeking to grow their own food. Green leafy vegetables in particular have been found to take up significant lead in gardens around homes in Maine. L.D. 1034 would provide funds to educate Maine people about these and other threats from lead contamination.

Status: Senate Minority Leader Paul Davis, urged on by the paint industry, has demanded that the Governor support repeal of LD 1034 in exchange for Davis’ support on the bond package. The Governor’s receptiveness to this demand had apparently gone through several permutations and interpretations. Democratic legislators have reacted unfavorably to repealing LD 1034.

Currently, it appears that the Governor and Davis are willing to agree on repealing LD 1034, replacing it with $1.5 million in voluntary contributions from the paint industry and support for the Governor’s outstanding $1 million bond request for lead abatement at low-income housing. The paint industry has been given until Monday morning to deliver on the requested cash commitment in writing or this deal falls through. Overall bond negotiations continue among legislative leaders and the Governor through the weekend. Supposedly, nothing related to the bond package, including the scheme to repeal LD 1034, will more forward unless there is unanimous approval from the Appropriations Committee which meets at 10 AM on Monday morning, It would be highly unusual for bond legislation to be amended to repeal a law that’s already been signed, but they can do it. The full Legislature meets on Friday, July 29 to enact the bond package, which requires two-thirds vote.

It’s a Bad Deal: Even in its current version, the Davis-Baldacci deal would be major setback for environmental health protection for Maine children and workers. Here are the major talking points for why the Appropriations Committee and the full Legislature should reject this deal:

• It’s unprecedented to repeal legislation as part of a bond package deal – don’t set a bad policy precedent at the expense of children’s health
• The national paint industry could not defeat LD 1034 on its merits the first time – don’t let industry hijack the bond process to repeal the bill
• LD 1034 provides a reliable, enforceable means to raise $ 2.5 million to fund lead poisoning prevention programs to protect the health of all Maine children
• The paint industry can not be trusted or compelled to make voluntary contributions to replace LD 1034 funding
• The proposed deal to rely on voluntary industry contributions would slash $ 1 million from the $2.5 million to be raised by LD 1034, reducing by tens of thousands the number of Mainers that would receive training, test kits and information on how they can prevent lead exposure
• This is the second time the paint industry has tried to “bribe” the Legislature to kill LD 1034; after the bill’s first favorable House vote, industry lobbyists promised voluntary cash contributions if the bill was stalled, but they failed to deliver even a written offer of commitment
• The Attorney General’s office has expressed serious reservations about the enforceability of a voluntary agreement of industry payments
• LD 1034 received broad bipartisan support in the Legislature, with an 86-63 vote in the House and a 34-1 vote in the Senate (Paul Davis voted no)
• LD 1034 was endorsed by a diverse coalition of more than 20 Maine organizations representing children’s, medical, environmental, public health, community, municipal and labor organizations
• The bond request to fund the capital costs of lead abatement at low income housing should be supported and approved on in its own merits; bond funding for lead abatement can not be used for the educational outreach funding to be provided by LD 1034, only for capital costs
• The Legislature should support a $1 million bond request for lead cleanup as an extremely modest investment to clean up about 100 units of low income housing. (This amount is much less than the $3 million recommended by the Natural Resources Committee of the Legislature, the $10 million asked for by environmental health advocates and the $5.4 million in federal grant monies to Maine that were eliminated by HUD in late 2004).

Possible Scenarios: Preferably, this deal will die of its own weight due to lack of industry commitment, legislative opposition and/or second thoughts by the Governor. If the proposal shows up in language proposed to the Appropriations Committee on Monday, the challenge will be to strip the repeal language in Committee. If it makes it out of Committee intact, a broader grassroots lobby and floor strategy will be needed to stop the rollback when the full Legislature meets on Friday, July 29.

Immediate Actions needed: (For legislative contact information, go to http://janus.state.me.us/legis/)

(1) E-mail, fax and phone the members of the Appropriations Committee – urge them to oppose the repeal of LD 1034 as part of the bond deal: Sen. Peggy Rotundo (D-Androscoggin Co.), Rep. Joe Brannigan (D-Portland), Rep. Ben Dudley (D-Portland), Sen. John Martin (D-Aroostook Co.), Rep. Margaret Craven (D-Lewiston), Rep. Arthur Lerman (D-Augusta), Rep. Darlene Curley (R-Scarborough), Rep. Jeremy Fischer (D-Presque Isle), Rep. Janet Mills (D-Farmington), Sen. Richard Naas (R-York Co.), Rep. Stephen Bowen (R-Rockport), Rep. Sawin Millet (R-Waterford), Rep. Robert Nutting (R-Oakland)

(2) Contact the Governor urging him to drop his support for repealing LD 1034, at governor@maine.gov, 287-3581 phone and 287-1034 fax

(3) Contact Democratic leaders – Thank them for their opposition to the Davis-Baldacci deal to repeal LD 1034 and urge them to continue to stand firm against it. Contact Senate President Beth Edmonds (Cumberland Co.) , Senate Majority Leader Michael Brennan (Cumberland Co.), Senate Assistant Majority Leader Ken Gagnon (Kennebec Co.) and House Speaker John Richardson (Brunswick), House Majority Leader Glenn Cummings (Portland) and Assistant House Majority Leader Bob Duplessie (Westbrook).

For Health and Justice – Thanks!

PLEASE FORWARD THIS ALERT TO YOUR FRIENDS AND NETWORKS.

Michael Belliveau, Executive Director
Environmental Health Strategy Center
P.O. Box 2217, Bangor, Maine 04402

tel (207) 827-6331 cell (207) 631-5565 fax (207) 827-5755
www.preventharm.org
mbelliveau@preventharm.org

"Preventing harm where we live, work and play"