Liz Moran of Earthjustice, a nonprofit law firm and national advocacy organization that advocates for clean air, water and a safer environment, also spoke of closing what she said was a loophole for insurers through a "package of bills" that would "plug holes while we pivot to a primary prevention approach and address the underlying problem."

Aaron Mair, a pioneer in the environmental justice movement and a former president of the Sierra Club, said the state should not pass the liability onto the most vulnerable children in this state, largely Black and brown children in low-income communities. 

Children who inhale dust from lead-based paint chips or materials can suffer from lead poisoning, and this can result in memory loss, developmental delays, permanent neurological damage or hearing loss, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Remember, this is a lifetime reduction in IQ," Mair said. "This is a lifetime disability that we can change right now. And if we're going to be passing that liability on the children, we need to ship it right back and hold landlords and the insurance companies accountable."

Ryan is sponsoring S. 3079A, which would require licensed and home rental insurers to provide losses or damages caused by exposure to lead-based paint. The proposal sits in the Senate Insurance Committee. 

Another bill aimed at protecting renters from the dangers of lead paint—S. 8453—sponsored by Sen. Brian Kavanagh, D-Manhattan, sits in the Judiciary Committee. Dubbed the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention and Safe Housing act, it would require reduction and elimination of lead-based paint hazards and provide that properties be maintained free of conditions conducive to lead paint poisoning. 

State Sen. Cordell Cleare, its co-sponsor, said she's the parent of a child with elevated lead levels. 

"It was hurtful to have that happen and know that it was completely unnecessary, that it was preventable," Cleare said at the rally.

Paul Webster, director of programs for a coalition called Clean & Healthy New York, which organized the press event, thanked Ryan and other legislators who pushed for law changes that he said would deal with the persistent and pervasive problem of childhood lead poisoning and lead-contaminated housing across the state.

According to the Association of Home Builders, New York has 5.3 million homes built before 1978—when lead paint was banned for use in homes—and estimates indicate many of them still have the presence of lead.

Webster said it's estimated that New York leads the nation in children—more than 100,000—who have tested for elevated blood lead levels. 

Ryan suggested that making insurance companies responsible for childhood lead poisoning would do little to raise premiums.

"We have one of the largest property-liability pools in all of the United States," he said, "so if in fact, we say you have to cover this, that means everybody—from a 100-story sky-rise to a (duplex)—it all goes into the pool." 

While insurance companies have argued that the change would be too costly, the lawmaker said, "they have not produced one iota of evidence that it's going to increase costs. They have… data, but they're not sharing it—and I think they're not sharing it because it shows that costs do not increase."

New York Insurance Association President Ellen Melchionni said in an e-mail statement the goal needs to be to address the presence of lead in a building before a child is poisoned. 

"The proposed legislation totally misses the mark as it will not encourage landlords to act and remediate the lead in their properties and therefore fails to protect children from getting sick," Melchionni said in the email. "New York banned the use of lead paint more than a half-century ago, yet the state does not have a primary prevention plan to keep children safe. Municipalities do not have the full ability to ensure properties are remediated."

She said the association encourages the state to allow local governments to fully implement and enforce high standards in relation to the presence of lead in buildings. 

NYIA, she said, recommends that public policymakers look to the "Find it, Fix it, Fund it" blueprint developed by the National Center for Healthy Housing and the National Safe and Healthy Housing Coalition. Grants are available through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, including for privately owned rental housing.

"Providing insurance coverage for liability is a disincentive for landlords to remediate," Melchionni said.

As state budget negotiations come to a close, the advocates in the state capital specifically called on Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Senate and Assembly to include increased funding and protections in the 2022-23 state budget:

This would include a $2 billion increase to the state Environmental Bond Act proposed by the Senate, with a call to incorporate lead remediation activities and for resources for low- and moderate-income housing, weatherization and mitigation efforts; $45 million for code compliance in the Senate and Assembly budgets; $10 million in the Assembly for a grant program that helps landlords mitigate lead paint in their homes; $4 million for seven regional children's environmental health centers; and $47 million for county-based health departments' lead-poisoning prevention programs, to restore cuts to each of 15 counties' prevention programs that were the result of five new counties added to the program without expanded overall funding.