Issue Position: Safeguarding our Children's Drinking Water

Issue Position

Like all parents, I'm deeply concerned about the health and safety of our children. Yet, despite the quality of the education offered in our schools, we haven't been so sure about the quality of the water that flows out of our school's water fountains, faucets or pipes, many of them generations old. We've all see the headlines about elevated lead levels in the water at our schools -- and no mother or father should have to worry about whether the water their child drinks contains lead or other toxic chemicals.

That's why I announced a Clean Water for Kids Plan, urging the state to improve reporting about the testing being done at our kids' schools and to make it accessible to the public so that parents know exactly what's in the water their kids might drink. We can't solve this problem if we don't know exactly what it is. I've also called for the Governor to strengthen efforts to keep our water lead-free in a comprehensive plan to get to the bottom of this problem and protect our children's health and safety.

If we're going to get lead out of our school drinking water once and for all, our schools will need better resources for testing, remediation and reporting. Last year, I introduced The Lead-Free Schools Act -- a bipartisan bill that requires testing for lead in our schools, empowers parents by improving transparency and creates a pilot program to help schools replace out-of-date infrastructure like lead-tainted water fountains. This bill will also claw back some of the federal tax dollars we are already sending to Washington to help secure the health and safety of our children. Under my bipartisan plan, parents have the transparency they want, schools can invest in lead-free water, and our kids will be safe.

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