Mason City, IA- A local state senator is warning his colleagues about a bill in the Iowa Senate. It would require houses built before 1978 to get inspected for lead.
If the home tested positive, the owner would have to remove any paint or surfaces containing lead. State Senator Merlin Bartz of Grafton says the legislation would have an extremely damaging effect on the state of Iowa.
Mason City landlord Russ Hardy is familiar with the dangers of lead poisoning. The bill would have a big impact on his business.
"I think it would affect 90 percent of the houses that we own."
At 500 dollars per inspection, the proposed law would be pricy.
"If you take 500 dollars times 100 houses, that's 50,000 dollars, and that's not in any landlord’s budget."
On top of the inspection cost, the Iowa Department of Public Health estimates it would have to train 1,000 new inspectors, including the purchase of testing equipment. If the home tests positive for lead, it would cost an average of $20,000 dollars. Take that times an estimated one million homes and you get a hefty bill for Iowans.
"We are talking about a price tag for the citizens of the state of Iowa over 20 billion dollars, that's billion with a "B," said Merlin Barts.
Bartz is on the human resources subcommittee that reviewed the bill. He says it has good intentions, but would be catastrophic if passed.
"This would be $20 billion going the opposite direction which would basically force home foreclosures and in many cases it may actually make you be in a homeless situation."
Hardy says there are ways of protecting your home, like sealing old paint with a new coat, but when it comes to a state wide mandate, he agrees with Bartz.
"I'm 100 percent in agreement with keeping kids safe but it has to be able to be done at a reasonable cost to tenants and Landlords as well."
Bartz says right now the bill is scheduled for discussion in a subcommittee hearing sometime this week. He's urging people to write their local representatives to voice concerns over the legislation.
