Legislative Session Call to Action: HB 665 – Louisiana Toxic Mold Task Force

The Louisiana House Committee on Health and Welfare is meeting tomorrow morning at 9am and will be discussing HB 665. The bill will to reestablish the Louisiana Toxic Mold Task Force. Mold is a sign of unsafe housing conditions and we need programs and policies in place to address mold and water intrusion in homes.

See below template letter to send to House Committee on Health and Welfare and their contact conversation:

Good Afternoon House Committee on Health and Welfare,

We are contacting you in support of HB 665 by Rep. Cormier to reestablish the Louisiana Toxic Mold Task Force. However, we would like to recommend changes to the bill as written, particularly around members to the task force. Mold is problem throughout Louisiana and experienced by many residents, but the task force does not have adequate representation. We believe you should add a community member, community development organization, and an affordable housing advocate to the task force to ensure fair representation on the task force from impacted communities. One of our major concerns with the last iteration of the Toxic Mold Task Force is that it didn’t have a well-articulated objective and we need to ensure we get something implementable this time around. Mold is caused by water intrusion in homes and we hope that the task force develops recommendations and policy that address water intrusion and mold damage in homes.

There are a lot of the practical ways of dealing moisture in homes that can lead to mold, such ventilators. Other states and DC have implemented mold remediation requirements. One of our national partners, the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative has been working with housing advocates across the country to address mold in properties and would be willing to share any of the best practices and standards they’ve learned thus far. We hope that the task force seriously looks at the adverse health impacts of mold exposure, and the Toxic Mold Task Force should be named the “Mold Task Force.” Toxic mold just means black mold and extreme cases, but mold in general is an indication of unsafe housing conditions. With the prevalence of COVID-19, the need to ensure that residents are living in safe housing is even more pressing. We don’t have to reinvent any new legislations and can adopt and assemble mold remediation standards from other regions.

Rep. Bagley – bagleyl@legis.la.gov

Rep. Turner – hse012@legis.la.gov

Rep. Adams – hse062@legis.la.gov

Rep. Carter – carterr@legis.la.gov

Rep. Cox – coxk@legis.la.gov

Rep. Crews – crewsr@legis.la.gov

Rep. Echols – hse014@legis.la.gov

Rep. Emerson – emersonj@legis.la.gov

Rep. Hughes – hse100@legis.la.gov

Rep. Johnson – hse021@legis.la.gov

Rep. Larvadain III – hse026@legis.la.gov

Rep. McMahen – mcmahenw@legis.la.gov