Political Science

The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool And Spa Safety Act is a law named after a child Graeme Baker who died in a tragic swimming pool accident in June 2002. She was the daughter of Nancy and James Baker and the grand daughter of James Baker III who was the former Secretary of State. After the childs death there was a huge cry over the need for a set of guidelines to be followed by the pool authorities. But the proposal never got converted into a bill or a law till 2007. The bill was re-introduced by Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL) who belongs to the Democrat party and was fully supported by the Baker family and SafeKids Worldwide organization. The act is framed to prevent the children from falling prey to the ill-equipments in the swimming pool drainage systems. The law states that all the pools and spas must install the ASMEANSI A112.19.8-2007 complaint drain covers. They must also have an anti-entrapment system in the presence of a single main drain other than the unblockable drain.

The law requirements are supported by the Pool Safety Council as the VGB act will help to prevent the child from getting trapped in the pool and considerably reduce the drowning incidents in California. They believe the law has come in as a sign of victory for the anxious parents, safety advocates and all the other concerned communities around the nation.

The VGB bill is facing slight opposition from the Modoc Country Health Services Environmental Health Department as there is a state-handled surcharge being imposed on the public pools. The law requires that the local jurisdictions must bill, collect the remit the fee to the State. Since the Modoc County has three pools where in no fee is being charged for conducting an inspection. They want the bill to be amended to remove the surcharge for the State.

After 2007 there were various amendments to the bill. These changes asked each public pool and spa to have one or more Safety Vacuum release system, A Suction-limiting vent system, A Gravity Drainage System, an automatic pump shut-off system.

As a congressman or a Senator I would surely give support to the bill as I feel nothing is more precious than a childs life. But I do want to consider the commercial aspect of the bill wherein I wont favor any financial burden to the public and may consider taking more responsibility from the federal side to share any additional financial implications.