Skip to main contentIn the contentious run-up to Tuesday night's vote on Measure 26-151, which would have fluoridated Portland's water supply, one of the most interesting rumors was the speculation about a possible legislative Plan B, should fluoridation go down to a narrow defeat.
The rumor went like this: Many Portland lawmakers, including House Speaker Tina Kotek (D-Portland), contributed to the pro-fluoridation campaign. There is also a bill, House Bill 3082, which contains broad enabling language—the bill says "relating to dental care for children."
As currently written, the bill directs the state Board of Education to make fluoride rinses available to all students after meals served at schools and to promote dental care in other ways. So the theory was that in the event of a narrow defeat, lawmakers could do simply amend the bill to apply only to Portland and to require fluoridating the city's water supply. Salem's history is replete with substantial amendments transforming otherwise innocuous bills into powerful forces for change.
But of course, the result Tuesday night was a blowout, as Clean Water Portland, the anti-fluoride campaign, triumphed 61 percent to 39 percent.
Rep. Mitch Greenlick (D-Portland), who sponsored HB 3082 and who gave $1,000 to Healthy Kids, Healthy Portland from his campaign account, says speculation about amending the bill to fluoridate Portland's water is "crazy talk."
"I haven't heard anything about that," Greenlick says. "And I would have because it's my bill."
Meanwhile, Healthy Kids, Healthy Portland, which outspent its opponents by more than three-to-one and will end up spending nearly $1 million when all the reports come in, sent out a post-election email to supporters declaring a moral victory:
WWeek 2015