Albany – With broad bipartisan support, and 40 cosponsors – including Republican Senator Phil Boyle (R-Bay Shore) as the lead sponsor – the Child Safe Products Act has more than enough support to pass through every necessary Senate committee, as well as pass a full floor vote. This common-sense bill which passed the Assembly with overwhelming support in April (as well as in 2014 and 2013) will modernize grossly outdated laws regulating toxic chemicals in children’s products, including known carcinogens like arsenic, mercury and lead.
For Immediate Release: May 28, 2015
Child Safe Products Act’s Clear Pathway to Passage
Cosponsors are a majority of every Senate committee that bill must go through
Albany – With broad bipartisan support, and 40 cosponsors – including Republican Senator Phil Boyle (R-Bay Shore) as the lead sponsor – the Child Safe Products Act has more than enough support to pass through every necessary Senate committee, as well as pass a full floor vote. This common-sense bill which passed the Assembly with overwhelming support in April (as well as in 2014 and 2013) will modernize grossly outdated laws regulating toxic chemicals in children’s products, including known carcinogens like arsenic, mercury and lead.
As of today, the bill would pass through three Senate committees: Environmental Conservation, Finance, and Rules. The bill would then go to a floor vote in the 63-member Senate.
The bill is cosponsored by 9 members of the 13-member Environmental Conservation committee; 22 members of the 37-member Finance committee; and 14 members of the 26-member Rules committee. Senate-wide, the Child Safe Products Act is cosponsored by 63% of all senators, including from every region and ranging from the most conservative to the most liberal members of the body, speaking to the broad appeal to protect kids’ health.
“No legislation in the Senate today is more assured of passage than the Child Safe Products Act,” said Saima Anjam, environmental health director of Environmental Advocates NY. “At every turn, there is a clear pathway to passage. Not allowing a simple up or down vote is a flagrant disregard of children’s health, and will further stain the Senate’s reputation as a place where deep-pocketed industries matter more than kids and families.”
Russ Haven, legislative council for New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) said, “The Senate leadership runs this play year after year: it keeps its thumb on legislation to prevent children’s exposure to toxic chemicals and then claims ‘the clock ran out’ when the bill fails to come to the floor for vote by the end of session. It’s time to put kids’ health first and move the bill to the floor.”
“This bill has all of the necessary pieces needed for a vote,” said Cecil Corbin-Mark, deputy director for WE ACT. “The science supports a need for it, parents are behind it, and well more than half of the Senate is on board. What kind of message would we be sending to families if they do everything right to get this bill passed and still nothing happens? It is time for the majority leader to put this up for a vote.”
“With 40 cosponsors – more than a majority of support in the Senate – it is high time the Child Safe Products Act come to the Senate floor for a vote,” said Caitlin Pixley, conservation associate of the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter. “Passage of this common sense legislation, along with bills such as the Microbead-Free Waters Act and Closing the Hazardous Waste Loophole, will ensure New York’s public health and environment are protected for years to come. We are confident these bills will pass and look forward to the Senate bringing these bills to the floor for a vote, helping to preserve New York’s air, water, and natural places.”
“As parents we have to worry about numerous threats to our children’s health every day, but Albany dysfunction should not be one of them,” said Brian Smith, associate executive director for Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “Albany politics now stands as the biggest roadblock to commonsense legislation to protect our children’s health. Removing this roadblock is as simple as allowing an up or down vote, and we are calling on the Senate leadership to do just that.”
Committee Cosponsors
Environmental Conservation: Avella, Addabbo, Espaillat, Funke, Hoylman, Latimer, LaValle, Serrano and Young
Finance: Breslin, Dilan, Espaillat, Golden, Hassell-Thompson, Kennedy, Krueger, Lanza, LaValle, Martins, Montgomery, Parker, Peralta, Perkins, Ritchie, Rivera, Robach, Savino, Squadron, Stavisky, Valesky, Young
Rules: Breslin, Carlucci, Dilan, Espaillat, Gianaris, Hassell-Thompson, Krueger, LaValle, Montgomery, Parker, Perkins, Stewart-Cousins, Valesky, Young
The Child Safe Products Act is one of just five pieces of legislation identified by Environmental Advocates NY as having more Senate cosponsors than votes needed for passage (32), two others of which are also priority environmental bills: closure of the fracking hazardous waste loophole (32 sponsors), and the Microbead-Free Water Act (37 sponsors). All of the bills are stalled in the Senate.
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