No more library books for kids?

I've been following the coverage for the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act that has been in the news lately. Basically it is a new law, that was on it's way to being fully enforced, that will mandate lead testing for all toys, clothes and other products that are made for children.

I started hearing about it when I saw fellow Etsians that were selling their hand-made baby clothes & toys for several thousand dollars. Jill told me that they were making a statement ... saying that they would have to up their prices if they had to go through all the official lead testing before they could sell their items. The lead testing isn't a problem for multi-million dollar companies that should be doing the testing anyway ... but for the small business owners, they would have to shut down, unable to afford the required testing.

Yesterday, there was an article in the Kansas City Star stating that this new law would mean that all children's books would need to be tested for lead before they could be on the shelves in public or school libraries. Are you kidding me?

Reading in the Etsy forums this morning, it looks like a one year stay was granted for the testing. Hooray! Oh wait. What does that mean? It now means that they've put off enforcing this law for just a year. Many Etsy sellers that were very worried, already closed their shops. Many are realistic and know that this doesn't mean they will be able to afford the testing next year. Yikes! I think it's a big, old mess. What is really scary is that the article states that the stay was granted by a unanimous vote of 2-0. TWO PEOPLE ARE IN CHARGE OF THIS LAW!?! I can't believe it.