G.K. Butterfield (D-North Carolina) has introduced H.R. 6068, the Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2008.
Bill co-sponsors are: Don Young (R-Alaska), Donald M. Payne (D-New Jersey), Doris O. Matsui (D-California), and William Jefferson (D-Louisiana).
The bill would establish state grants for hotel bed bug inspections. Yes, hotels. Hotels are but one vector of the spread of bed bugs in our country. Nonetheless, the bill privileges this sector:
SEC. 3. BED BUG INSPECTION GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Administration; Amount- The Secretary of Commerce, in cooperation with the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, may provide grants to an eligible State to assist such State in carrying out the inspections described in subsection (c). The grants shall be in amounts determined by the Secretary, taking into consideration the relative needs of the State.
(b) Eligibility- A State is eligible for a grant under this Act if the State has established a program whereby not fewer than 20 percent of rooms in lodging facilities in such State are inspected annually for cimex lectularius, commonly know as the bed bug. The Federal share of funding for such a program shall not exceed 80 percent.
(c) Use of Grants- A State may use a grant received under this Act to–
(1) conduct inspections of lodging facilities for cimex lectularius, including transportation, lodging, and meal expenses for inspectors;
(2) train inspection personnel; and
(3) educate the proprietors and staff of lodging establishments about methods to prevent and eradicate cimex lectularius.
(d) Application- To receive a grant under this Act, an eligible State shall submit an application to the Secretary of Commerce in such form and containing such information as the Secretary shall determine.
(e) Definition of Lodging Facility- For purposes of this Act and the requirement under subsection (b) for State programs receiving funding under this Act, the term `lodging facility’ means any individual hotel, motel, or inn that makes available for commercial lodging more than 10 individual rooms.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations- There is authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2012 to the Secretary of Commerce for the grants authorized under this Act.
The bill’s findings are notable to this New Yorker for the outdated New York City bed bug statistics:
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that–
(1) on February 12, 2008, a thorough inspection of a hotel in Nashua, New Hampshire, found that 16 of 117 rooms were infested with bedbugs;
(2) cimex lectularius, commonly known as bed bugs, travel through the ventilation systems in multi-unit establishments causing exponential infestations;
(3) female bedbugs can lay up to 5 eggs in a day and 500 during a lifetime;
(4) bedbug populations in the United States have increased by 500 percent in the past few years;
(5) in 2004, New York City had 377 bedbug violations and from July to November of 2005, a 5-month span, there were 449 violations reported in the city, an alarming increase in infestations over a short period of time;
(6) in a study of 700 hotel rooms between 2002 and 2006, 25 percent of hotels were found to be in need of bedbug treatment; and
(7) bed bugs possess all of the necessary prerequisites for being capable of passing diseases from one host to another.
What do you think of this bill? I can’t wait to hear your thoughts…
UPDATE - May 20, 2008:
So, the story is being picked up. Predictably, there is cautious skepticism, outright snark, and the inevitable “it’s not a joke” statement from the sponsor.
We all need to educate people on the bed bug issues. This unfortunately named bill is not a joke and deserves serious debate.
Our RSS feed. If you're in NYC, check out our bed bug task force campaign. And, hey, we hope you don't have them (anymore, ever).
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This bill is a gift to the lodging industry that will come out of our pockets in the form of taxes. The hotel industry can also afford their own pest control. Renee, you are correct; it privileges the hotel industry and ignores all the other vectors of the spread of bed bugs.
It quite frankly, enrages me as I sit here among all my plastic bags and bins, thousands of dollars in the hole because of bed bugs.
I think the hotel industry has brought this problem to the attention of the US gov’t. Maybe instead of just engaging our local politicians, we need to write to our US senators and representatives as well.
Unbelievable actually. I honestly cannot believe it. Long time overdue and a bit late, no? the spread of this is much worse than what this bill covers. What/when will they help the lonely home owners out there that have suffered financially and traumatically over this? I haven’t traveled in over 5 yrs, and live in a single family home! It will take us over 10 years to recover and get back to where we were before this! My children can basically kiss college goodbye after what we went through. What is congress going to do about those that lost it all. People are getting infested at their places of business and church at this point.
Okay, forget about my self anger here. What about the nursing homes, elderly, handicapped, the very poor?
Did I read this correctly? Is it just about the hotels/hostels?
On the other hand, they are aware, and are taking action. It’s a start and I pray the assistance will be put in the right direction and they continue to look at this aggressively.
Good heavens, Paula! What is your bed bug story?
C’mon now! I thought, really thought, that this bill would help out us regular citizens. Guess not. With all the lawsuits against hotels, this bill had to be created to protect the hotel industry. And those government people also travel and stay at hotels. So, in a way, it’s in their own best interest that they are passing this stupid bill.
It’s only providing grants for inspections. That’s it. All it takes is one complaint from a guest at a hotel, the hotel cleans up the room, calls the inspector who finds the room clean, then the guest has no case. Or the hotel could say that they just had the inspectors over and found the rooms to be clean which disagrees with the guest. Just throwing out scenarios folks.
On the plus side, at least people in government are starting to learn that bed bugs are real and that they are not only something out of a saying that our parents told us. That ANYONE can get them, not only poor or the disadvantage. That Don Young (R-Alaska), Donald M. Payne (D-New Jersey), Doris O. Matsui (D-California), and William Jefferson (D-Louisiana) are also at risk. That their families are at risk as well.
Let’s see if this bill passes.
I think the bill is a good start.
The grants will provide states with $50 million dollars per year to hire state employees to inspect public lodging facilities.
This Federal bill will promote state regulation & funding of bed bug inspections for the hospitality industry nationwide.
There is a huge advantage to doing this on a nationwide basis because as we all know that bed bugs are highly efficient hitchhikers that do not respect state boundaries. This type of regulation would takes decades to accomplish on a state by state basis.
We need to lobby our Congressional Representatives to amend the bill to include other routes of migration & public facilities as Paula & Crawledon have pointed out.
As Renee points out the bills has a number of flaws, but we need to strongly support this bill in a modified form.
I would expect that the states would naturally expand the regulatory inspections to cover other important routes of migration.
If a state accepts a grant to hire personnel to perform bed bug inspections, they will have to enact standards for their inspectors to enforce.
Oh Ed Darrell, you don’t want to know. Bad infestation, no total control, improper 1st treatment, ridding everything we own pretty much, resorted to closing out a retirement savings to vikane structure last fall. All was fine besides getting over the trauma of it all. Now in March, started to see signs, possible low infestation, had two different k9 companies, got similar results, but only one or the two companies alerted to the bed. Getting physical inspection by a pro in the field this week. As of last fall, losses were over $38k including treatments.
‘PrettyGirl, Ya know. you hit the nail on the head. “protects the hotel industry” Anyone can get them, and MANY ARE getting them.
Paula
You really should consider writing an article about your experience.
I think it would be a real eye opener for the politicians that are going to be debating this bill.
I truly have thought about it Doug. Partly scared to live it again through words and I don’t know where to start or who to go to. Wouldn’t want to get scammed.
As for an article….I would love to have the experience of speaking to someone, in person, over coffee about it. Hmm, which politician would like to speak with me first? I know it would never happen, but would be nice to personally explain the details of it all.
Paula,
Don’t be so sure that it will never happen.
I would be willing to bet that if you write the article that you will be much more likely to get a personal audience with the decision makers.
You might even get an invite to testify before Congress about the bill, if you get your story out.
Your experience is a though provoking narrative about the living nightmare that these parasites cause for families throughout our nation every day.
Excuse the typo.
Make that a thought provoking narrative…
.
Hi,
Well its a good tart as bills go.
I know people want solutions for domestic settings and support for going though this problem but almost all legislation starts in the commercial sector and works it way down from there.
I hate to say the state of the UK laws is a lot worse than you are planning in the US. To date we have NO specific legislation about the Bed Bug issue and it is not likely to occur to the politicians to write sum until we are thoroughly infested as a nation.
The best advice I can give is to support all good legislation, work with it and then push for domestic support and legislation when the commercial models have been set up. Yes it takes time but it gets the ball rolling but fighting legislation that is a step in the right direction will not help in the long run.
I just wish we had people available in the UK to push for legislation on the issue as well, it would certainly make our lives easier in the long run.
David
Well, I could only wish my experience could wake people up and help make a change in the right direction. That’s what we all want isn’t it? We the people truly need political assistance on this.
Let me start by saying this…if NewyorkvsBeds, Miss Heather, or some one sponsering Ms Brewer or even Mr Brownbear would ever like to interview me for a detailed article of experience, (and a long one that would be) I would be honored to do so. The reason I state this is because I am familiar to the style and honesty of those that run this site and those that back it’s purpose.
HI
New to the forum but not to the pandemic. I live in Greenpoint. It’s been 3 weeks since my last bedbug sighting.
How about an OpEd letter submitted to the Voice, the NY Times, and the Washington Post mentioning the bill, current stats v. those mentioned in the bill, and its shortcomings with respect to bailing out industry and ignoring the common residential taxpayer, not to mention lack of educational/ outreach/public health awareness?
I’d be happy to work on a draft with others or alone.
Is there a formal name for this forum we could use to sign the letter with? How’s ’bout Bug-Free NYC?
Hello everyone and thank you for your comments. We have not yet hashed out a formal position on this bill. I appreciate everyone weighing in. (There are other legislative proposals I’ll bring everyone up to speed on at the earliest opportunity.)
Waxy, our name is New York vs Bed Bugs. Welcome!
I can be reached at renee at newyorkvsbedbugs dot org — I’m open to your idea.
We actually need help and if anyone wants to participate in our discussions and join our efforts, please join our google group or shoot me an email.
Bringing state regulation to the hotel industry to help control the spread of bed bugs is a worthy goal.
How does this help individuals in the community?
Well, if you ever travel and stay in a public lodging facility…or if your friends, relatives, coworkers or neighbors stay in a hotel or motel…..then this bill is a major breakthrough.
If you want to see the creation of a state agency that is dedicated to bed bug control…then this is good legislation.
These state agencies may start with the hotel industry, but they will naturally expand their efforts to include other vectors that exist in the community.
When I traveled to a bed bug conference in Orlando a few months ago…. I found three dead bed bugs in the first room I was given at a well known chain hotel on International Drive.
Hotels are a major source of infestation for the community. Millions of people acquire their bed bug infestations from hotels worldwide.
The bed bugs that are living in your apartment building could easily have originated from someone that picked them up at a public lodging facility.
This legislation deserves our support.
Yes, totally agree Doug. Hotels are a major problem and yes it’s a good start. Needs to start somewhere. I hope it trickles down to places of business, schools and homes soon after. It’s going to be a long while I’m sure. But this is much better than a year ago today.
I remember when we were getting our home vikaned. We were debating on staying with family in PA (3hrs away) or staying at a local hotel. Mind you we had three small children under the age of three at the time….twins constantly crawling over floors etc.. I had asked my PCO that I was working with before vikane, where should we stay? And before I could even totally ask the question, he stated that it would be much safer to stay at relatives at this point and to definitely not stay at a hotel. He said that hotels are definitely a big problem right now. This was last fall. Obviously he sees things that we the public are not aware of.
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