Senate OKs fluoridation bill

A bill that could lead to more Arkansans drinking fluoridated water cleared the Arkansas Senate on Thursday and was sent to the House of Representatives. A senator called the legislation “Big Brother government at its worst.”

The 25-7 vote on Senate Bill 359 came after its sponsor, Sen. David Johnson, D-Little Rock, told the Senate it would increase the percentage of Arkansans whose water systems are fluoridated from about 60 percent to more than 80 percent.

This will improve their health, save them money and save the state Medicaid program more than $1 million, he said.

The bill would require the state Board of Health to adopt rules for the fluoridation of systems serving at least 5,000 people and give the board authority to set requirements and procedures for maintaining permissible concentrations of fluoride.

A system wouldn’t be required to fluoridate until funds sufficient to pay capital startup costs for fluoridation equipment have become available from any source other than tax revenue or service revenue regularly collected by the company, corporation or government agency that owns or controls the system.

The Delta Dental Foundation has pledged $500,000 to provide for such equipment, according to Johnson.

But Sen. Jerry Taylor, DPine Bluff, a land surveyor and real estate broker, said he worries that the bill would cause some rural water systems not to expand in order to avoid the cost of providing fluoridated water to their customers and ultimately could lead the Legislature to require smaller rural water systems to provide fluoridated water.

“I do believe it is Big Brother government at its worst,” he said.

Sen. Ruth Whitaker, R-Cedarville, said there have been “many scare tactics” used against similar legislation over the years.

Six years ago, legislation narrowly failed to clear a Senate committee after opponents linked the tooth-protecting substance to crime in Little Rock and bone disease. At that time, opponents gave committee members boxes of toothpaste with cards that read: “For those who choose to use fluoride, there is always fluoridated toothpaste, which has a poison warning. I choose not to come into contact with any fluoride. Please respect my right to choose.”

But Sen. Percy Malone, DArkadelphia, a pharmacist, on Thursday called the bill “a nobrainer.”

“We are not going to die over this,” he said. “Let’s not kid ourselves. Let’s take care of children.”

But Taylor said Hot Springs has rejected providing fluoridated water several times over the years.

Johnson countered that “Tooth decay isn’t a local issue.”

Under the bill, a water system for a city in Arkansas that receives its water supply from a community in another state wouldn’t be required to comply with the bill until a substantially similar fluoridation program is enacted for the system of the community in the other state. Johnson said the provision provides an exemption for Texarkana.

The systems affected by the bill include Alma, Booneville, Cherokee Village, Clay County, Cross County, Danville, De Queen, Dumas, Fort Smith, Greenwood, Hot Springs, Lawrence County, Little River County, Madison County, Magnolia, Marion County, McGehee, Mena, Mountain View,Ozark, Sardis, Ward, Warren and Watson Chapel, said Ann Wright, a spokesman for the state Department of Health.

The department’s engineering section estimates that the $500,000 pledge would be sufficient to cover the cost ofequipment and its installation in all 32 water systems covered by the legislation, she said.

AUTISM THERAPY

House members voted 72 to 13 to approve House Bill 1315 by Rep. Uvalde Lindsey, D-Fayetteville, to require some insurance companies to cover up to $50,000 in therapy per year for children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. It limits the coverage to those under age 18.

Autism spectrum disorder ranges from autism disorder (the most severe and least frequent) to pervasive development disorder not specified (the most common form), according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Lindsey said one in 93 boys and one in 345 girls in Arkansas has autism.

The bill would apply to group and individually purchased health policies, but not self-funded company plans, which are the majority of plans in Arkansas and are federally regulated.

Rep. Andy Mayberry, RHensley, who called himself an advocate for children with disabilities, said Lindsey’s bill is not the best route to try to fix the problem because it does not apply to all insurance plans.

He said federal law restricts which insurance plans the state can mandate treatment in and a lot of autistic children are not on eligible insurance plans.

Lindsey said expanding insurance coverage for autism therapy, combined with other resources like Medicaid and treatment in schools, will help increase the number of children who get treated.

“This insurance coverage is part of the solution,” Lindsey said.

Rep. Tim Summers, R-Bentonville, said the bill isn’t perfect but it’s the best legislators can do for now.

EXTENDING THE SESSION

The House voted 96 to 0 to extend the legislative session. House Concurrent Resolution 1006 by Rep. Bobby Pierce, DSheridan, would extend it until April 27. The House will recess See ACTION, Page 6Abeginning April 1.

The House speaker and Senate president pro tempore can bring lawmakers back at any time during that period to work on congressional redistricting, constitutional amendments and other topics.

MOLD INVESTIGATORS

The House voted 84 to 1 to approve HB1171 by Rep. Mike Patterson, D-Piggott, which would repeal the mold-investigators license created last session.

Patterson said Act 1467 of 2009 is cumbersome, hard to police, and puts undue burdens on home inspectors, who are not allowed to talk about mold.

Patterson has said he plans to write new legislation to create a mold investigator’s license.

Rep. Jonathan Barnett, RSiloam Springs, said home inspectors can’t tell clients when they have mold damage. “The bill never should have been passed in the first place; it was a bad bill,” Barnett said.

HERBAL SNUFF

The Senate unanimously approved the latest version of legislation to prohibit the sale of herbal snuff in Arkansas to people under 18.

Senate Bill 69 by Sen. Jimmy Jeffress, D-Crossett, would define herbal snuff as a tobaccoless chewing and snuff composition that mimics smokeless tobacco and includes herbal chewing snuff, herbal dipping snuff and herbal snus.

Herbal snus is a tobaccofree and nicotine-free substitute of snus, a spitless product of either loose or pouched form usually placed along the gum line under the upper lip, according to the bill.

Herbal snuff should be marketed only to adults to avoid “any possibility of herbal snuff being regarded as a gateway product for children,” according to the bill.

Front Section, Pages 5 on 02/25/2011

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