Congressmen Cohen and McKinley Introduce Tax Credit to Protect Children From Home Lead Hazards

WASHINGTON – With lead hazards lurking in about 3.6 million homes of families with young children nationwide, Congressmen Steve Cohen (TN-09) and David McKinley (WV-01) today introduced the Home Lead Safety Tax Credit Act – bipartisan legislation to help American families cover the cost of eliminating lead from their homes.

"The safest place for a child should be his or her own home, but many homes built before 1978, including more than 200,000 in Memphis, have lead paint and other potential hazards," said Congressman Cohen. "Children deserve to grow up free from the permanent harm exposure to lead can cause. This legislation would create a tax credit to provide homeowners the resources they need to address hazards within their homes. I'm pleased to join Senator Whitehouse in this important and much-needed effort."

"The EPA reported there is no safe level of lead exposure, especially in drinking water. Prior to 1987, homes were built with lead based pipes," said Representative McKinley. "Reducing lead materials in homes is critical in ensuring the safety of our communities and children. Our bill provides a tax credit to homeowners to use as a resource in removing these home-based lead hazards."

Lead is a powerful neurotoxin that can severely compromise the behavioral and cognitive development of children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that over 4 million households nationwide have children who are exposed to high levels of lead. Despite the widespread contamination of U.S. housing stock, funding for lead abatement programs, such as the Lead Hazard Control Grant Program, has only provided lead abatement for about 400,000 homes since 1993.

The Home Lead Safety Tax Credit Act of 2020 would dramatically broaden the national response to this public health challenge by providing refundable tax credits for homeowners, landlords, and tenants to remove lead from homes. The bill would create a tax credit worth up to $3,000 to cover half the cost of abating lead hazards in paint, pipes, or soil. The new tax credit would supplement state and local lead control programs, and would be available to offset costs in households with an annual income under $160,000.