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Senate advances bill restricting how fluoridation can be removed from public water; debate over timing and local costs
Summary
First substitute HB 64 would require public votes to remove fluoride the same way it was added and imposes a minimum period before revotes (the substitute set four years); senators debated municipal costs (Layton cited nearly $1 million), whether the first revote start date should be changed, and the balance between initiative rights and protecting city investments. The bill advanced to third‑reading after roll-call.
Senator Bell introduced the first substitute to House Bill 64 to address an inequity in state law that, in his view, prevented citizens from reversing a prior fluoridation decision. The substitute amends section 19-4-111 to require that fluoride be removed from public water supplies only by a public vote called the same way it could be added and establishes a minimum interval between revotes; the substitute sets that interval to four years.
Bell framed the bill as procedural, not a statement about…
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