Legislative briefs for June 13, 2008
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The latest news on the Louisiana Legislature and the governor. The Advocate Capitol News Bureau delivers timely and unique insights into the political comings and goings around the state and in the capitol.
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Legislation that would require most of Louisiana to add fluoride to public water supplies was sent back to the Senate for final approval Thursday.
House members approved Senate Bill 312 with an 80-16 vote. But since the measure was amended on the House floor, it has to return to the Senate.
SB312 would require water systems that have less than the minimum natural level of fluoride, and with at least 5,000 service connections, to estimate how much it would cost to install the equipment needed to mix fluoride with water. Once money is found through grants and state budget spending, the systems would then be required to install the equipment.
Rep. Kay Katz, R-Monroe, said more than six decades of research, thousands of studies and the experience of millions of Americans prove that fluoridation is healthy and economical.
Panel rejects tougher auto-smoking ban
A Senate committee blocked a proposal to toughen Louisiana’s restriction on smoking inside a car or truck while a child is present.
Rep. Walker Hines’ bill would prohibit smoking a cigarette, cigar or pipe while a child younger than 16 is present, up from the current prohibition that covers children 13 and younger.
Hines, D-New Orleans, said the change would save the state money in health care costs, as children face less secondhand tobacco smoke in an enclosed vehicle.
The Senate Transportation Committee voted 3-2 to block the House-backed House Bill 1021 from reaching the full Senate.
Legislators approve extension of secrecy
A measure that will extend how long financial negotiations in state economic development deals are kept under wraps is on its way to the governor’s desk.
The law providing for the secrecy is set to expire July 1. The House approved 96-0 Senate Bill 343, which would continue it until July 1, 2012.
“In this global economy, a lot of times these business don’t want that they’re looking at a certain location to be disclosed,” said state Rep. Rick Gallot, D-Ruston, who was handling the bill on behalf of its sponsor, state Sen. Ann Duplessis, D-New Orleans.
Rep. Wayne Waddell, R-Shreveport, tried to tack on an amendment to add language included in a previous bill he sponsored that failed in a Senate committee. Waddell’s amendment would have extended confidentiality to otherwise public records under the custody of the governor, his chief of staff and executive counsel.
Waddell’s amendment was defeated when 37 voted for it and 53 voted against.
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Representative Katz is shockingly wrong and is putting Louisiana residents at extreme risk of health damage because she has taken the word of the Louisiana Dental Association who would rather mandate fluoride in the water than have the legislature mandate that dentists actually treat Medicaid patients and other low income people. People in American are dying from untreated tooth decay. No human is, or ever, was fluoride deficient. Fluoride cannot fill the void left by dentists who won't treat them for more info FluorideAction.net Fluoridation 101 http://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof
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Recently Louisiana lawmakers voted to use taxpayer dollars mandating the implementation of equipment and injection of fluoride to our state’s drinking water. There is widely circulated research that identifies many adverse health associated with exposure to fluoride when ingested. Citizens that are most at risk are infants, the elderly, and those with health conditions such as diabetes. Naturally occurring fluoride in water is different from the chemicals that are injected into water systems. The chemicals used are generally considered to be hazardous waste and are byproducts of the fertilizer and aluminum industry. Fluoride has never received the FDA’s approval and there have been studies that illustrate a direct link in reduction of person’s IQ and the development of dementia in laboratory animals exposed to fluoridated water. Proponents of fluoridated water claim that it prevents tooth decay. Even though fluoride is not used in 97% of the EU (by choice) data shows that tooth decay rates are just as low in most Western countries or even lower in some countries. A study completed by the National Institute of Dental Research which was the most comprehensive study completed on over 39,000 children did not reveal any significant differences of tooth decay when comparing non-fluoridated and fluoridated populations. Society has turned a blind eye to the food companies who put chemicals, preservatives, and pesticides in and onto our foods. As individuals we have a choice of the quality of foods that we eat, but with the introduction of the fluoridation bill being pushed through the state legislature this denies us freedom of choice for the drinking water we consume.
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