Representative Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Todd Young (R-IN) introduced the Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act, which would require the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to update its lead poisoning prevention measures to reflect modern science and ensure that families and children living in federally-assisted housing are protected from the devastating consequences of lead poisoning. Lead hazards in a home pose serious health and safety threats. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), lead hazards such as dust and chips from deteriorated lead-based paint are the most common source of lead exposure for U.S. children. A 2021 survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) found that lead-based paint is in 34.6 million U.S. homes, 89 percent of which were built before 1978––the year lead-based paint use in housing was banned in the United States. Left unaddressed, lead poisoning can cause long-term and irreversible health, neurological, and behavioral problems in children. Specifically, the Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act would ensure that families and children living in federally assisted housing are protected from the devastating consequences of lead poisoning by adopting primary prevention measures to protect children in low-income housing, including:
 
• Prohibiting the use of visual assessments for low-income housing constructed prior to 1978 and require the use of risk assessments, a more accurate evaluation tool to identify lead hazards, before a family moves into the home;

• Providing a process for families to relocate on an emergency basis, without penalty or the loss of assistance, if a lead hazard is identified in the home and the landlord fails to control the hazard within 30 days of being notified of the presence of lead; and

• Requiring landlords to disclose the presence of lead if lead hazards are found in the home.