Assembly Approves Water Fluoridation Bill

The Assembly on Friday passed a bill that would require the addition of fluoride to nearly all of California’s public drinking water supplies.

The bill, (AB 733) by Assemblywoman Jackie Speier (D-Burlingame), is part of a national campaign by the U.S Public Health Service to bring fluoridated water to 75% of Americans by 2000. The measure won approval on a vote of 42-13 and now moves to the state Senate.

Surveys show that half of first-graders in fluoridated communities are cavity-free. Although fluoridation has become common in other parts of the country, it has been controversial in California, where only 17% of residents receive fluoride from the faucet.

Among the bill’s foes were water districts worried about costs. But Speier amended her measure to require the use of state funds for the maintenance and operation of fluoridation equipment.