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Senator Hollier plans lead task force legislation

LANSING, MI (MPRN)--   Some lawmakers in Lansing want to start a task force to curb the state’s lead exposure problem. 

Democratic Senator Adam Hollier is working on the legislation. He says one thing the task force would do is look at existing programs and see which ones can be broadened to include different types of help for things like lead paint removal.

But he says the ultimate goal is to put more money toward fixing the state’s lead problem.

“Most of these proposals say, ‘Hey what we need to do is spend two billion dollars more.’ Okay, well, if we don’t do anything then we’re going to spend three billion dollars in treating the result of us not fixing the first problem,” he says.

Across the state, kids have had elevated lead levels in their blood from lead in drinking water and from exposure to lead based paint and dust.

Before becoming the newest Capitol reporter for the Michigan Public Radio Network, Cheyna Roth was an attorney. She spent her days fighting it out in court as an assistant prosecuting attorney for Ionia County. Eventually, Cheyna took her investigative and interview skills and moved on to journalism. She got her masters at Michigan State University and was a documentary filmmaker, podcaster, and freelance writer before finding her home with NPR. Very soon after joining MPRN, Cheyna started covering the 2016 presidential election, chasing after Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and all their surrogates as they duked it out for Michigan. Cheyna also focuses on the Legislature and criminal justice issues for MPRN. Cheyna is obsessively curious, a passionate storyteller, and an occasional backpacker. Follow her on Twitter at @Cheyna_R