Gov. DeSantis receives bill banning fluoride additives to water statewide

Gov. Ron DeSantis has received SB 700, the “Florida Farm Bill,” backed by Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson.

The bill includes a ban on adding fluoride and other substances to city water supplies.

DeSantis held a press conference saying he was excited to sign the legislation.

“It’s forced medication when they’re jamming fluoride in your water supply,” DeSantis contended, saying people can add fluoride on their own without local governments “unilaterally injecting the chemical into your water supply.”

Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo also spoke in support of the bill.

At the same press conference, he likened his colleagues in the medical profession who back the practice to Charles Schulz’s “Linus,” who was racked by insecurities.

“I think of Charlie Brown, and I love that, I don’t know, I can’t remember his name, but the little guy who holds his blanket, right? And I love it, you know? Hold your blanket. But unfortunately, you know, he is a kid. But what we have instead, we have professionals — and they’re doctors, dentists, public health leaders — who are holding on to fluoridation like that blanket,” the state’s top doctor said.

The bill also bans the advertising of plant-based meat and milk substitutes with those words if most other southern states adopt the same language.

Some provisions of the bill were less controversial, including a ban on flying drones over farmland or harassing people with drones anywhere in the state.

The legislation would also offer a ballot initiative where voters could exempt agricultural lands from property taxes.

The measure proposes grants for fiscally constrained counties for electric vehicle charging stations.

It would also allow schools to maintain agricultural spaces for the National FFA Organization and the 4-H Club by exempting them from local zoning that would otherwise ban them.

Mail theft is already banned federally, but the bill would give the state enforcement ability.

Heritage Action, the Heartland Institute, the National Rifle Association, the Florida Agritourism Association, the Florida Feed Association, the Florida Poultry Association, the Florida Farm Bureau Federation, and the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association support this bill.