Rep. Hildenbrand, made the following statement:
“Mr. Speaker and members of the House:
After carefully studying this issue, I have arrived at the conclusion that this legislation as currently written will do absolutely nothing to make sure toys are safe. Instead of going after violators, the legislation creates a confusing patchwork of bureaucratic regulations and reporting requirements that will generate a lot of paperwork, but will fail to keep toxic toys out of the toy box.
Two other states considering similar legislation pegged the cost at more than $500,000 per year. Considering the governor just proposed firing 100 state police troopers to save money in the budget, I do not believe we can afford this expense at this time.
The EPA already has the ability to ban toxic substances and make sure they are not used in children’s toys. The proper solution is to continue working with the president and Congress to fix the problem at the federal level, which will actually block toxic toys from being sold, instead of creating another layer of burdensome regulations making it even harder to do business or create jobs in Michigan.
The fact that this legislation allows exemptions for foods that a child may actually ingest and tobacco products that will expose them to second-hand smoke proves that this legislation is more about scoring political points than it is about protecting children.
Claiming to do something ‘for the children’ is one of the oldest tricks in the politicians’ playbook, but grandstanding does not solve real problems. Unfortunately, rather than work in a bipartisan manner, lawmakers chose to ram this flawed legislation through the House instead of working to fix Michigan’s economy.”