HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 1514

BYRepresentatives Ferguson, Haugen, Sanders, Cooper, Bumgarner and Nutley

Authorizing water districts to fluoridate water supply systems.

House Committe on Local Government

Majority Report:  Do pass.  (14)

      Signed by Representatives Haugen, Chair; Cooper, Vice Chair; Beck, Bumgarner, Butterfield, Dorn, Ferguson, Hine, Jones, Nealey, Nelson, Nutley, Rayburn and Zellinsky.

House Staff:Steve Lundin (786-7127)

AS PASSED HOUSE FEBRUARY 8, 1988

BACKGROUND:

Water districts are authorized to provide water for any public or private purposes or uses to the inhabitants of the district, any city or town within the district, and any persons outside of the district.  Water districts are authorized to regulate and control the use, distribution and price of such water.

SUMMARY:

A water district is authorized to control the content of the water that it distributes.

A water district is authorized to fluoridate its water supply system by majority approval of its board of commissioners or to cause a ballot proposition on the fluoridation of the water supply to be submitted to district voters.  Such a proposition must be approved by a majority of the voters voting on it to authorize the fluoridation of the water supply.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Linda Christophersen, Washington State Dental Association; Joe Daniels, Washington Association of Water/Wastewater Districts; Gordon Empey, Seattle-King County Department of Public Health; Peter Domoto, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, University of Washington; and Lori Watts, resident of Fall City.

House Committee - Testified Against:      None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    This is not mandatory but permissive.  Some attorneys question the authority of a water district to fluoridate its water unless expressly authorized by the Legislature.  The board can submit the question to district voters.  Fluoridating water is the simplest, most cost effective, public health measure that can be taken.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None Presented.