Major national paint companies and the California Legislature remain far apart on a deal that could jettison an initiative sponsored by the companies.
The initiative, which is expected to have enough signatures to go before voters in the fall, would overturn a recent state appeals court ruling that puts the companies, Sherwin-Williams and ConAgra, on the hook for perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars in lead-paint cleanup in homes. In its place, the initiative would authorize a $2 billion loan so that homeowners, not the companies, would pay to clean up lead and other environmental hazards.
The companies have long said they would prefer lawmakers to pass legislation that would address their concerns about the court ruling. On Monday, the two companies released a proposed bill that would overturn the court ruling, require paint manufacturers to pay $500 million for lead cleanup over the next decade and shield the companies from liability. They said Democratic state Assemblyman Tim Grayson would write the bill.
But Grayson said Sherwin-Williams and ConAgra's proposal was a nonstarter and that the companies need to put up more money.
"While some of the concepts could be used as a framework, a statewide solution for lead paint remediation is simply not going to happen with the dollar amounts that the lead paint industry has proposed," Grayson said in a statement.
Grayson indicated that he'd prefer to pass legislation rather than have a fight at the ballot box in November, but that the onus was on the companies to make a deal.
"It's time that the paint companies take responsibility for their actions and not push liability onto the backs of taxpayers," he said. "They must settle with the litigants of the case and be responsible to the rest of the state by funding a statewide remediation program."
There remain significant hurdles for legislation to pass in time for companies to pull the ballot measure by the state's Thursday deadline. Any bill that would increase fees on paint companies would require a two-thirds majority vote of the Legislature. Also, legislative rules require bills to be in print for 72 hours before lawmakers can give them final approval. This means the companies would have to agree to abandon the measure before a bill passed.
