Local governments in Florida and across the country recently have debated — and, in some cases, stopped — the longstanding practice of adding fluoride to water supplies. Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has urged more communities to take that step, appearing personally at a hearing in Tavares late last year as the city halted the practice.

With the backing of Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, a Senate Republican on Thursday filed a wide-ranging bill that would bar public water systems from adding fluoride to water supplies.

A Senate committee Thursday moved to advance a controversial fluoride bill after hearing from supporters and opponents and from those who assert system-wide injection of fluoride into drinking water violates bodily autonomy and self-will.