CPSC Budget Hearing Recap

July 31, 2024 | The U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce held a hearing on Tuesday, July 23 titled “The Fiscal Year 2025 Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Budget.” Toy Association staff monitored the meeting on behalf of the industry; a recording and copies of written testimony are available here.  

During the hearing, each CPSC commissioner — including Chair Alexander Hoehn-Saric, Peter Feldman, Richard Trumka Jr., Mary Boyle, and Douglas Dziak — answered questions from members of the subcommittee about prior and current decisions the agency has made, in addition to discussing priorities for the coming fiscal year.

Much of the discussion was around regulatory actions and processes that the CPSC took up over the past few years, including those related to personal riding devices, gas stoves, table saws, and furniture tip overs. Toys and, more broadly, children’s products, were mentioned several times, mostly about the need for more funding to better protect children from potentially hazardous products. 

Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ-6) mentioned his proposed legislation to ban water beads (H.R. 6468). Still, the conversation around the product type was limited to a mutual affirmation between the Congressman and the CPSC Chair that water beads were an area of high concern and that Congress’ support was valued on this issue. 

Counterfeit products were mentioned several times, with Chair Hoehn-Saric stating: “At some point in time, we can't do more with less. We can simply do less. The fiscal threat is happening at a time when product safety challenges facing Americans are growing. E-commerce is booming, but so is the number of hazardous and recalled products sold online, through online platforms. Americans routinely buy from foreign manufacturers through platforms that do little, if any, vetting of the manufacturers or their products. I'm grateful for the bipartisan leaders of this committee who are pushing these platforms to prioritize product safety and I'd welcome additional Congressional action to hold them accountable. The platforms are in the best position to evaluate the safety of the products being offered on those sites and that burden should not rest on the American consumer.”

While the Chair did not directly mention the SHOP Safe Act, which The Toy Association is persistently advocating on, his statements seemed supportive of more explicit laws to combat counterfeit and illegal product sales on e-commerce platforms, and of increased CPSC activity to target counterfeit products that may violate safety standards. 

The hearing will likely be the only public opportunity for members of Congress to question the CPSC Commissioners this year. While children’s products, as usual, took a prominent role in the line of questions, there seemed to be no major deviation from the CPSC’s goals or objectives moving forward.   

Members may contact Owen Caine, vice president of government affairs at The Toy Association, with any questions.