these necessary laws have greatly increased the cost of repainting.
most around here get vinyl siding so they never have to paint again


Another thought: I think you're overreacting a bit.
The whole country is not going to go to vinyl just
because of the new lead paint laws. Many can't
realistically do that anyway. Vinyl siding is godawful
ugly. It can only be used in lower value neighborhoods.
(I'm actually looking at a job now where a woman
wants to strip off old aluminum siding and rebuild
the window trim.)

I saw a house being worked on recently. It was one
of those gigantic Victorian types with 4 or 6 apartments.
The crew had tacked plastic sheet under the bottom
row of clapboard, which hung down in front of the
cellar wall and extended out from the house. At the end
of the day they have to fold the sheet and dispose of
it. It can't be re-used. It's a big hassle, but not prohibitive.
Estimates I've seen are that it's likely to add 20% to the
cost of a job. The license for it requires about $300 and
a one-day workshop. I haven't got the license myself because
I just don't want to deal with that kind of hassle, and while
I do some painting jobs, what I mostly do is building and
renovations where I also do the painting. In many cases
there's a demo crew for that, so they're the ones who
have to deal with the requirements. Also, as I mentioned
above, most of my jobs qualify for the exemption.