Here's a news release from the House Democratic caucus:
HARRISBURG, June 23 - State Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-York, said legislation he authored that would strengthen Pennsylvania's consumer protection laws by targeting unsafe toys and other children's products unanimously passed the state House today.
"This is common-sense legislation that seeks to protect Pennsylvania's children," DePasquale said. "If a recalled toy is on the store shelf, we need to get it off - period. Parents shouldn't have to fear that items they buy for their children could be unsafe."
DePasquale, who first introduced this legislation last session, said he did so because of the Consumer Product Safety Commission's recall of nearly 200 items in 2007 - including children's toys, cribs and other products.
DePasquale said the bill, H.B. 1431, would make it a crime in Pennsylvania to knowingly sell recalled children's products and would give the state attorney general and local district attorneys the authority to prosecute such offenses.
The attorney general would also be required to establish and maintain a Web site that would provide links to lists of all national agencies that deal with consumer product safety and product recalls. The products identified by any of these lists would be restricted from sale or commerce within Pennsylvania.
The bill also would require manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and distributors to notify their customers and retailers of recalled children's products within 24 hours of the announced recall. Retailers would have three days to remove recalled items from their shelves, DePasquale said.
The bill now moves to the state Senate for consideration.
And here's a video I picked to accompany it:
