FAN Bulletin #530:

March 18, 2006.

Dear All,

We’ve just received word from Mike Ewall in Pennsylvania that a mandatory fluoridation bill there has been defeated! Mike provides the details in his letter below.

—— Forwarded Message
From: Mike Ewall
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 04:12:52 -0500
To:
Subject: WE DID IT!  (PA Fluoridation Bill Stopped)

Dear Anti-Fluoride Friends and ActionPA supporters,

For the time being, we STOPPED the mandatory fluoridation bill in PA.  Our lobbying efforts derailed a planned vote on the bill earlier this week.  We haven’t seen a threat like this in over 16 years, so this is a huge victory!

BACKGROUND:

Since 1987, mandatory fluoridation bills have been proposed in all but one legislative session.  Not since 1989 has such legislation ever come to a vote.  When it did, it passed the House by 116-86 and made it part-way through the Senate before dying in a Senate Committee.

This is the first time in 16 years that mandatory fluoridation legislation has moved out of its initial committee.  Rightfully, we were really worried when we found that this legislation was moving at all.  This is rather unusual, since it’s a Democrat-sponsored bill in a Republican-dominated legislature.  It had cleared the Health & Human Services Committee without any hearings in October 2005.  We hadn’t noticed this until early February when Freya Koss with the PA
Coalition for Mercury-Free Dentistry informed us that the PA Dental Association was planning a lobby day in Harrisburg for March 14th.

We found that it was recommitted to the Appropriations committee on Feb 7th and figured perhaps that we could help it die there.  After all, the head of the Appropriations committee had co-sponsored our Fluoridation Choice Act in the past three legislative sessions.  We were further comforted when we found last week that his staffers weren’t even aware that the bill was in their committee, since no staffers were assigned to it.  They didn’t figure it was going anywhere, but when we informed them that the dentists were planning a lobby day on March 14th, they responded by saying that they suppose “that could change.”

We had planned a lobby day of our own for March 14th, bringing Dr. William Hirzy of EPA up to meet with key legislators with us.  We hand-delivered literature (including the EPA union’s statement) to nearly all legislators in the House.

In the course of meeting with staffers for two of the Republican house leaders, we learned that the legislation had moved out of the Appropriations committee a day ago (Monday) and that there was an agreement to let it go to a vote.  The Republicans had caucused and while they didn’t see the “need” for the bill and had concerns about the costs, they had placed it on the calendar to be voted on Tuesday evening or Wednesday.

We felt blindsided.  We went from thinking the bill wasn’t likely to move right away to knowing that it could pass within a day — no time to alert and organize the masses.

We followed up with an email to all reps (whose emails didn’t bounce)
late Tuesday night.  A copy of what I sent is below.

On Wednesday, we learned that the bill was suspended.  I learned on Thursday that after caucuses met, there was a general consensus by Republican caucus members not to run the bill.  I was told that there are no plans to bring it back up.  They only plan for a couple of weeks ahead, so it’s still possible that the bill could come up again this year.  The next session begins on April 3rd.

I think there’s a good chance that the bill could be dead for the rest of the year.  We can only know when the year is over.  Rather than wait for a surprise, we plan to do a mass email to our “big” list (several thousand people in PA) to stir up the masses and get people around the state contacting legislators to let them know we don’t want mandatory fluoridation.  This extra push should keep the legislation controversial enough to prevent it coming to a vote.

Special thanks to our Tuesday lobbying team:

Mike Ewall, Traci Confer and David Houck (ActionPA)
Dr. William Hirzy (National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 280)
Freya Koss (PA Coalition for Mercury-Free Dentistry)
Carol Ward (Dental Amalgam Mercury Syndrome)
Mickey Somsanith (new activist at-large)

…and to those back at home who also helped make this possible, especially Lorna Rosenstein (Water Watch of Utah) whose amazing advice helped guide us… and of course, the Connetts, whose expertise makes so much of this possible.

We just proved Margaret Mead right… a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens CAN change the world!

Below is the copy of the 11th hour email I sent to House members.  So far, I’ve only received one response, from a Chester County Republican (Curt Schroder) asking me to “please forward information on the National Academy of Sciences report when it is made available.”

Mike Ewall, ActionPA
215-743-4884
catalyst@actionpa.org
http://www.actionpa.org

——————————

Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 01:11:36 -0500
From: Mike Ewall
Subject: Please Vote NO on HB 1588: Retain Community Choice

Dear Representative,

Please vote NO on HB 1588.

Currently, communities in Pennsylvania have the choice whether they’d
like to add artificial fluoridation chemicals to their drinking water
system or not.  HB 1588 would take away that choice.

FIVE REASONS NOT TO PASS HB 1588:

1) No hearings have been held on the bill.  There is a large and
growing body of scientific evidence indicating health problems
relating to long-term ingestion of fluorides.  The legislature ought
to hear both sides of the debate before acting.

See: http://www.fluorideaction.net/health/

2) In August 2005, eleven unions representing over 7000 environmental
and public health professionals at the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency have called for a national moratorium on water fluoridation in
response to increasing evidence indicating a connection between
fluoride and bone cancer and links between fluoride and increased
levels of lead in drinking water.

See: http://www.nteu280.org/Issues/Fluoride/Press%20Release.%20Fluoride.htm

3) HB 1588 would force water systems to install costly equipment and
to incur new legal liabilities.  As evidence mounts that fluoride
causes osteosarcoma (bone cancer), hip fractures and other health
problems — particularly in sensitive populations — increasing
numbers of lawsuits are expected.  Who will be responsible for the
legal liability for these suits?  The Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania?  The drinking water systems?

See: http://www.onlinelawyersource.com/fluoride-osteosarcoma/

4) Fluoridation is ineffective.  Many studies — new and old — have
shown that the effects of fluoride are topical and that ingesting
fluoride does not help fight cavities.  Studies of fluoridated vs.
non-fluoridated communities shows no difference in tooth
decay.  Swallowing fluoride to prevent tooth decay makes as much
sense as swallowing suntan lotion to prevent sun burns.

See: http://press.arrivenet.com/health/article.php/764156.html

5) The prestigious National Academy of Sciences is only one week away
from a long awaited 500-page report re-evaluating the toxic hazards
posed by water fluoridation.  The project is titled “Toxicologic Risk
of Fluoride in Drinking Water” and may be the first truly independent
review of the matter in decades, if not ever.  The legislature ought
to wait for the release of this report, which could dramatically
change the debate.

See: http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/projectview.aspx?key=36

Respectfully submitted,

Mike Ewall, ActionPA
215-743-4884
catalyst@actionpa.org
http://www.actionpa.org

“When HB 939 was introduced to my committee, I asked my staff to research the subject and they reported to me that there is no scientific or medical evidence that would indicate any particular benefit from fluoridation of public drinking water. As chairman of this committee, it is my policy not to move any legislation from Committee that would not result in a positive benefit to public health, safety or welfare.”

-State Rep. Arthur Hershey, Former Chairman of the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee in a June 16th, 1999 letter to Pennsylvania anti-fluoridation activists

—— End of Forwarded Message