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BED BUG UPDATE
PROGRESS IN STATEWIDE BED BUG FIGHT; REP. PAT LONG WILL CHAIR NEW SUBCOMMITTEE TO STUDY NEW HAMPSHIRE BED BUG THREAT
Manchester, N.H. – March 14, 2011 – Recognizing that bed bugs pose a significant threat to New Hampshire’s economy and its residents’ quality of life, the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services has created a subcommittee to gather information regarding the extent of bed bug threat in the Granite State.
Rep. Pat Long, D-Manchester, will chair the subcommittee.
“The Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee agrees that bed bugs are a growing problem in New Hampshire and in New England. This public health concern presents a serious challenge for the healthcare, hospitality, tourism, education and housing communities,” Rep. Laurie Harding, D-Lebanon, wrote in a report to the chairman of that House of Representatives committee regarding House Bill 75, which would have established a bed bug study commission.
The subcommittee, which was established in place of a study commission, will hear testimony from the wide array of New Hampshire agencies, industries and other parties affected by bed bugs. The subcommittee will be comprised of both legislators and others dedicated to proactively addressing the international bed bug epidemic here in New Hampshire.
“Bed bugs aren’t just a public health issue, they’re an economic issue,” Rep. Long said, “and the longer we wait to address it, the more expensive of an issue it becomes, for everyone. Homeowners, tenants, landlords, business owners, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels, summer camps — no one is immune to the threat posed by bed bugs.”
Rep. Long said that members to bed bug subcommittee will be named by March 24 and will begin hearing bed bug-related testimony from stakeholders shortly thereafter. The subcommittee will report back to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services on a monthly basis and will issue a report of bed bug education and prevention recommendations this summer.
