Rep. Sydney Jordan, DFL-Minneapolis, is carrying the bill to replace lead service lines in the House. (Anthony Souffle, Star Tribune file/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Chris Tolbert had to shell out $6,000 to replace lead-lined pipes connected to his St. Paul home.

A City Council member, Tolbert wanted safe water for his wife and growing family to drink. He was able to cover the hefty price tag, but he knows plenty of other people who can't.

"It's a prohibitive cost for a lot of St. Paul families, and for families across the state of Minnesota," he said.

The state Health Department estimates roughly 100,000 public and private service lines in Minnesota are lined with lead, potentially exposing people to contamination in their drinking water. Exposure to lead is dangerous at any level, according to national health organizations, but risks are higher for children, who can suffer from brain and nervous system damage.

Homeowners and municipalities have shouldered the expense of replacing those service lines, but a proposal moving at the Capitol would spend $240 million from the state's budget surplus to help them cover the costs.

"This is a great way for us to use the resources the state has right now," said Gov. Tim Walz, who also pitched the funding in his revised budget. He recently joined Tolbert, state legislators, construction unions and clean water groups outside a home in St. Paul that was getting its lead service lines replaced.

The group doing the work let Walz know that the Summit Avenue governor's residence about to be renovated currently has lead pipes too.

The funding would go toward helping the state's Public Facilities Authority tackle lead line replacement across the state by 2033. A majority of the funds would be used for removing privately owned portions of lead drinking water service lines, but municipalities can also get grants to replace publicly owned portions of lead service lines.

Many communities and homeowners don't know whether they have lead in their service lines. The proposal sets aside funding to do surveillance across the state and map out the location of lead service lines.

By passing the funding as soon as possible, lawmakers said the state can also unlock $43 million in federal infrastructure funding each year for the next five years for lead service line replacement projects in Minnesota.

The proposal unanimously passed the Minnesota House and is awaiting a vote in the Senate.

"Everyone drinks water and everyone has these lead service lines in their communities," said Rep. Sydney Jordan, DFL-Minneapolis, the sponsor of the bill. "I think everybody knows this is what government needs to do for the people we represent."

Jordan said there's lead in service lines in communities across the state, but neighborhoods with more low-income residents and an older housing stock tend to have more. Lawmakers said additional funding will be needed in the future. The state estimates it will cost $1 billion total to replace lead-lined service lines statewide.