Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown is calling for quick passage of legislation to help schools and daycares pay for lead testing in their water systems. Brown spoke today in Cleveland where high levels of lead were recently found in 60 of the city’s older public school buildings.
Senator Brown is co-sponsoring a bill that would provide one-hundred million dollars in federal grants for lead testing. He helped draft it after the lead crisis in Flint, Michigan and findings of high lead levels in the Granville and Sebring schools in Ohio. Brown says the legislation has passed the Senate as part of a larger clean water act, and is now in a conference committee where House and Senate versions are being debated.
“We are working with the House to try to get something to the president before the end of the year to do this right. I have no idea what the new president thinks about any of this, but I do know President Obama is focused on this as I’m focused on this.”
Brown says though the legislation has bipartisan support, he expects getting it signed into law would be harder if it has to wait until Donald Trump takes over as president next year. Young children exposed to lead can develop learning and behavior problems.
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