WashingtonWatch.com - Revisions for H.R. 6068, The Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2008

Revision by webmaster (August 7, 2008, 19:35:02)

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:35:02 EDT

H.R. 6068 would establish a grant program to assist States in inspecting hotel rooms for bed bugs.

Detailed Summary

H.R. 6068 would create a grant program in the Department of Commerce and authorize $50,000,000 in each of fiscal years 2009 through 2012 for giving these grants to states.

Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2008 - Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to provide grants to an eligible state to assist the state, if the State has established a program to inspect at least 20% of rooms in lodging facilities in the state, for cimex lectularius, commonly know as the bed bug. Allows a state to use a grant to conduct inspections, train inspection personnel, and educate lodging proprietors and staff about prevention and eradication of bed bugs.

Status of the Legislation

Latest Major Action: 5/16/2008: Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Points in Favor

Bedbugs are a Serious Problem

This is a really important bill. Bed bugs are spreading fast and anyone who has had them in their homes would tell you they are a nightmare which can take months and thousands of dollars to get rid of. A bedbug bite creates a wheal the size of a half-dollar, is painful, and itches like concentrated poison ivy injected into your body. It's like living with phantom spiders that feed on you. You awaken at 3 am with a flashlight to feverishly inspect your now pure white sheets and obsess about them touching the floor. Every morning you inspect your mattress and every washday you re-inspect your entire bed.

These bugs are truly horrible. The expense , the loss of furniture, the stress and mental anguish, the social stigma . . . all happen to one's life when bedbugs invade a home.

The bedbug's ability to hitchhike via personal items is insidious. They don't just live in sheets or beds. They spread to your books, towels, carpets, wall sockets, and electronics. A bug that causes so much stress and upheaval in one's life must be taken seriously. Ignore this bug and it will wreak havoc on society.

Good housekeeping is not enough to keep bedbugs away. Bed bugs aren't spread through uncleanliness, they spread by proximity and contact with others that have them. Bed bugs are now present in every quarter of public life: schools, workplaces, theaters; even your car. They are more resilient than cockroaches, and much more harmful to humans. And here's the kicker: a home can go from being bug-free to having a serious infestation in about a month-and-a-half.

Many people are running into these bugs at hotels, on planes, etc. and unknowingly bringing them home by no fault of their own. The bugs then infest their homes and often friends and family members as well. It can cost thousands of dollars to eradicate these things, and in multi-unit dwellings, it's often impossible to do so. Bedbugs need to be addressed for the vermin that they are. Their continued spread via the accommodations industry should be taken very seriously.

A study has shown bed bugs are resistant to DDT. It's not the answer.

But some people have not had such bad experiences. New sheets and a steam cleaner to clean the mattress solved the problem for a whopping $15 to rent the cleaner.

Bedbugs are a Public Health Issue

Bed bugs have become a public health issue. In terms of physical health, the bites often create allergic reactions on the skin. This can cause trouble sleeping at night due to the mental health effects of infestation. The lack of sleep affects physical health and work performance.

Because there are not highly effective pesticides and treatments available currently for bed bugs, the best way to stop this from reaching epidemic proportions is to prevent the spread of bugs in the first place.

It's been proven that many home infestations are the result of travel. Inspecting hotels will protect consumers and also protect the tourism industry.

Effects on Commerce

The re-emergence of bed bugs is going to have a major impact on a number of industries, particularly the hospitality and travel industries.

Home owners associations also are affected by this problem. One HOA in Northern VA found bed bugs in 16 of their 25 buildings. In one, all but two condos needed to be treated. Once bed bugs establish themselves, they travel quickly through the walls.

Legislation is Needed

Legislation is in order at the least to try to get hotels etc. to do better inspections and thorough treatments. If you think big business will self-regulate, check out TripAdvisor online and type "bed bugs" on the search â�� see how many establishments have been reported by travelers. It's shocking.

This legislation is not asking for money to treat bed bugs, but for money to pay State inspectors to look for bed bug infestation.

Since bed bugs were a non-issue 5 years ago, there is no current protocol for dealing with them. Hotels would rather deal with the bugs themselves than get the State involved. This is like having a health inspector inspect kitchens.

Lodging and real estate are some of the slimier businesses in the world. They need governmental oversight because they could care less about their customers given the peculiar nature of their business models.

Bedbugs affects all the states, as they spread from state to state, so it should be federal.

Alternatives and Next Steps

If Congress doesn't afford grants for inspection, they should make it law that hotels, motels, and B&Bs must inspect for bed bugs four times a year. It takes five weeks for an infestation to take root. Inspecting every three months ought to do it.

Congress needs to consider federal legislation to help deal with infestations in residential housing , as well.

The federal government should also set up a centralized reporting agency to track the spread of bed bugs and the result of efforts to control them.

Points Against

Constitutional Issues and Role of Government

There is no constitutional authority for the federal government to address bedbugs. There is also no limit on what it might address if it can address bedbugs.

There are many similar problems that we wouldnâ��t want solved by the federal government, all the way down to dirty dishes. Every minor annoyance you face in life isn't cause for a federal initiative; the government is not your Mom, your best friend, or your caretaker. We have drifted too far toward a government of entitlement. There are those who seem to want our government to take care of their every want or need all while ignoring Islamic terrorism and the impending collapse of Medicare and Social Security.

It's up to the affected industries (and those of us who utilize their services) to deal with this problem, however "horrible" it is. The role of government is NOT to transfer resources from the general public to special interest groups. And government has a long track record of failing to produce intended results despite the fact that they "invest" much more resources than any private entity would.

Bureaucrats can do no more about this than people and businesses can do themselves. The Nanny State "solution" would be highly inefficient with long queues, like any Nanny State "solution" is, and another drain on the tax payers money.

For any piece of legislation we should ask: First, does this task have to be carried out by government at all? Second, if so, what level of government should carry it out? Here, there is no role for government at all. It is not the state government's job (with funding from the federal government) to protect us from bed bugs. Even if we grant that for some reason only the government can fight bed bugs, why does the Federal government need to involved. States can come up with a one million dollars a piece to take care of this problem. But hotels and homeowners should take care of the problem.

Consumer Pressure / Market Responses / Litigation

Instead of a new federal law and federal spending, we should let other forces control this problem.

Hotel owners need to know that there's a limit to how much cost-cutting they can do. They need to start using detergent and hot water when they wash their sheets. Large hotel chains will lose lots of money when word gets out that their $69.99 rooms don't include full bedbug removal. Hotels with infestations will lose business or be sued.

The government does not need to be the one to track bed bug infestation in hotels. Why not create a bed bug tracking site that allows users to report on hotels that are doing more to control bed bugs or spread the word about repeat offenders? Why not petition an already-existing review site to include a bed bugs category? There are review sites for many restaurants and companies. This is no different.

If you've been to a hotel with a bedbug infestation, I promise there's a huge group of lawyers ready to bring a multi-million dollar tort suit against the hotel on your behalf.

Private residences can pay for extermination just as they do with termites.

Needless Spending

Fifty million dollars per year is far too much to spend while there are real issues beating this economy into the ground. The government has a multi-trillion dollar debt, but it is finding ever more creative ways to spend our money.

Citizens should not be forced to spend 200 million dollars of their money, regardless of whether or not they own or make use of single family residences, HOAs, and hotels.

Revision by webmaster (July 11, 2008, 19:31:54)

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:31:54 EDT

H.R. 6068 would establish a grant program to assist States in inspecting hotel rooms for bed bugs.

Detailed Summary

H.R. 6068 would create a grant program in the Department of Commerce and authorize $50,000,000 in each of fiscal years 2009 through 2012 for giving these grants to states.

Status of the Legislation

Latest Major Action: 5/16/2008: Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Points in Favor

Bedbugs are a Serious Problem

These bugs are truly horrible. The expense , the loss of furniture, the stress and mental anguish, the social stigma . . . all happen to one's life when bedbugs invade a home.

A study has shown bed bugs are resistant to DDT. It's not the answer.

But some people have not had such bad experiences. New sheets and a steam cleaner to clean the mattress solved the problem for a whopping $15 to rent the cleaner.

Bedbugs are a Public Health Issue

It's been proven that many home infestations are the result of travel. Inspecting hotels will protect consumers and also protect the tourism industry.

Effects on Commerce

The re-emergence of bed bugs is going to have a major impact on a number of industries, particularly the hospitality and travel industries.

Legislation is Needed

This legislation is not asking for money to treat bed bugs, but for money to pay State inspectors to look for bed bug infestation.

Bedbugs affects all the states, as they spread from state to state, so it should be federal.

Alternatives and Next Steps

Congress needs to consider federal legislation to help deal with infestations in residential housing , as well.

The federal government should also set up a centralized reporting agency to track the spread of bed bugs and the result of efforts to control them.

Points Against

Constitutional Issues and Role of Government

There is no constitutional authority for the federal government to address bedbugs. There is also no limit on what it might address if it can address bedbugs.

Consumer Pressure / Market Responses / Litigation

Instead of a new federal law and federal spending, we should let other forces control this problem.

If you've been to a hotel with a bedbug infestation, I promise there's a huge group of lawyers ready to bring a multi-million dollar tort suit against the hotel on your behalf.

Private residences can pay for extermination just as they do with termites.

Needless Spending

Citizens should not be forced to spend 200 million dollars of their money, regardless of whether or not they own or make use of single family residences, HOAs, and hotels.

Revision by jimharperdc (July 8, 2008, 18:48:07)

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:48:07 EDT

H.R. 6068 would establish a grant program to assist States in inspecting hotel rooms for bed bugs.

Detailed Summary

H.R. 6068 would create a grant program in the Department of Commerce and authorize $50,000,000 in each of fiscal years 2009 through 2012 for giving these grants to states.

Status of the Legislation

Latest Major Action: 5/15/2008: Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Points in Favor

Bedbugs are a Serious Problem

These bugs are truly horrible. The expense , the loss of furniture, the stress and mental anguish, the social stigma . . . all happen to one's life when bedbugs invade a home.

A study has shown bed bugs are resistant to DDT. It's not the answer.

But some people have not had such bad experiences. New sheets and a steam cleaner to clean the mattress solved the problem for a whopping $15 to rent the cleaner.

Bedbugs are a Public Health Issue

It's been proven that many home infestations are the result of travel. Inspecting hotels will protect consumers and also protect the tourism industry.

Effects on Commerce

The re-emergence of bed bugs is going to have a major impact on a number of industries, particularly the hospitality and travel industries.

Legislation is Needed

This legislation is not asking for money to treat bed bugs, but for money to pay State inspectors to look for bed bug infestation.

Bedbugs affects all the states, as they spread from state to state, so it should be federal.

Alternatives and Next Steps

Congress needs to consider federal legislation to help deal with infestations in residential housing , as well.

The federal government should also set up a centralized reporting agency to track the spread of bed bugs and the result of efforts to control them.

Points Against

Constitutional Issues and Role of Government

There is no constitutional authority for the federal government to address bedbugs. There is also no limit on what it might address if it can address bedbugs.

Consumer Pressure / Market Responses / Litigation

Instead of a new federal law and federal spending, we should let other forces control this problem.

If you've been to a hotel with a bedbug infestation, I promise there's a huge group of lawyers ready to bring a multi-million dollar tort suit against the hotel on your behalf.

Private residences can pay for extermination just as they do with termites.

Needless Spending

Citizens should not be forced to spend 200 million dollars of their money, regardless of whether or not they own or make use of single family residences, HOAs, and hotels.

Revision by webmaster (May 16, 2008, 19:30:17)

Fri, 16 May 2008 18:30:17 EDT

H.R. 6068 would establish a grant program to assist States in inspecting hotel rooms for bed bugs.

Detailed Summary

(Log in to edit the wiki and be the first to provide a detailed summary of the bill!)

Status of the Legislation

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Points in Favor

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Points Against

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Revision by webmaster (May 16, 2008, 19:30:17)

Fri, 16 May 2008 18:30:17 EDT

H.R. 6068 would establish a grant program to assist States in inspecting hotel rooms for bed bugs.

Detailed Summary

(Log in to edit the wiki and be the first to provide a detailed summary of the bill!)

Status of the Legislation

Latest Major Action: 5/15/2008: Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Points in Favor

(Log in to edit the wiki and be the first to show why the bill should pass!)

Points Against

(Log in to edit the wiki and be the first to show why the bill should not pass!)