Health and Human Services (HHS) Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy (Maha) movement has prompted a tide wave of health reform bills at the local level in almost every state.
At the federal level, Kennedy’s HHS oversaw the development of the Landmark Maha Committee. director The FDA ends the process of allowing businesses to safely label their food ingredients.
President Trump’s Kennedy and his agency empowerment encouraged the state legislature to take up Kennedy’s mantle and codify his ideas about public health.
For example, West Virginia legislature recently passed the first bill banning cancer-linked synthetic food dyes for sale in the state.
Despite intense lobbying campaigns from various states and national beverage associations, the West Virginia Senate agreed with the House and approved a legislative ban on synthetic food dyes on March 14th. The bill is currently waiting for approval at Governor Patrick Morrissey’s desk.
The West Virginia Senate has agreed to the House final version of the bill to ban state food dyes today. The bill now goes to the governor’s desk for him to sign.
– rob (@robmcgravytrain) March 14, 2025
State Assemblyman Adam Barkammer, the original author of the bill, noted that more than 20 other states account for similar laws.
“I support all of us, all of us who are moving to create all of our states and make our country a healthier environment for children and adults,” he told the Daily Caller.
“It’s viable and I think it’s time,” he concluded. (Related: RFK’s Maha forces descend from left, right and center in the national capital)
Kennedy Jr. previously highlighted the dangers of synthetic food dyes and conducted advertising research showing that chemicals have a negative impact on childhood behavior.
Described as “the most rigorous assessment of the behavioral effects of food dyes ever conducted,” the new report is based on a review of the results of 27 clinical trials in children conducted on four continents over the past 45 years. #thedefender https://t.co/tb4nzout9m
– Robert F. Kennedy JR (@robertkennedyjr) May 11, 2021
Even Secretary Kennedy It is reportedly According to ABC News, he told food company executives that he hopes to remove harmful additives and dyes from the products before the end of his term.
In Utah, a recent councillor Prohibited Community water fluorination, a proposal approved by Kennedy Jr. The move has encouraged health and wellness experts to encourage their state to follow suit.
Helen Cristoni, senior vice president of water purification company Aquator, called on California’s hometown to ban water freezes in communities and to see many other pollutants in public water supplies.
A longtime defender of Cleaner Water, Christoni is pleased that Kennedy Jr. will have an impact on the National Health Movement.
“I think it really made it very mainstream news due to RFK and his position in the administration, and people really have to pay attention. It’s on our television, and it’s on our podcast,” she told the caller.
“Outlets cover it in all respects, so I’m really grateful that health and wellness is at the forefront,” she continued. “Consumers can make their own decisions. They can listen to a variety of opinions because there is a really big problem with our water and it takes a lot of time to fix it.”
Utah is the only state that officially ends water fluorination in communities, but many counties across the country have similar laws. In particular, Florida has seen a surge in communities ending public water fluorination following the advice of state surgeon general Joseph Radapop.
🚨Let’s go!!
My County – Lee, Florida – Fluoride banned in the water.
The commissioner voted unanimously to do this.
General Joseph Radapop, a Florida surgeon, defended it.
Radapop: “It’s insane to continue supporting this with the information we have right now. And you… pic.twitter.com/c4usgkjdzj
– Eric Dorgerty (@ericdaugh) February 5th, 2025
Christoni is far from the only health advocate riding the waves created by Kennedy’s HHS Secretary Tenure.
A large number of well-known celebrities took up the Mahamant and transported it from coast to coast, gathered at state capitols across the country to defend it to support the Promaha bill and slander lobbyists who opposed them.
Calley Means, who co-authored RFK allies like Vani Hari, the highly popular “The Food Babe” social media brand, along with bestselling books on metabolic health, descended on Phoenix, Arizona in mid-March. invoice This will consume certain ingredients from ultra-processed food from publicly funded school lunches.
Nutrition and overall health expert Helen Lees has also joined Arizona’s Maha Contingent to express her support for the bill. For Leeds, the idea of a healthy lunch at school is very personal.
Her daughter suffered from severe health complications after gaining weight from eating ultra-processed foods at school. Leeds, who earned a Masters in Nutrition, packed his daughter with a healthy lunch every day. However, her daughter said she was still able to eat unhealthy food.
“She is tAt first she was with a friend, went to her neighbor’s house, and little by little, she was only just beginning to be influenced more and more, and she began to want more of those foods. And by the time she was 15 she was £320,” Leeds shared with her daily caller.
Her daughter suffered from anxiety, depression and ADHD. She had committed suicide at one point, Leeds shared. However, once the Covid-19 pandemic hit and schools closed, Leeds was able to help his daughter undress the ultra-processed meal, losing £160.
Leeds’ experience with his daughter, her background in overall health, and early support for Kennedy during him Litigation The self-proclaimed “Mahamama” has easily chosen to join the movement against chemical giant Monsanto.
“I was a really big supporter of Kennedy. Of course, when he joined the Trump campaign, we were all surprised. But we all love Kennedy so much. We absolutely know that we trust and believe in what we agree and believe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzelhzaysq4
While the focus of Kennedy Jr.’s recent policy has been on food standards, the issue that cast him at the forefront of national conversation, even before the run of his startup’s independent president was his vaccine skepticism.
His message about the vaccine was not markedly extreme in his time in the Trump Cabinet – he Recommended Americans get vaccinated for measles in early March – but he remains a strong critic of the Covid-19 vaccine. (Related: A recent survey shows that a large pharmaceutical tax loophole costs more than $1 billion a year for Americans.)
He has repetition It was criticized The Centers Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the agency currently overseeing by his HHS, is adding the Covid-19 vaccine to his childhood vaccine schedule. He also beats the underlying mRNA technology with most Covid-19 vaccines and the ability of vaccine makers to avoid liability for product injuries.
When government health regulators completely abandon their responsibility to protect public health, we are clearly in a systematic issue and introduce pharmaceutical companies to safe concerns about the shy zero-risk vaccine. #thedefenderhttps://t.co/d13elnagql
– Robert F. Kennedy JR (@robertkennedyjr) December 17, 2020
Some state lawmakers like Iowa are following his initiative on the issue.
Iowa Legislature has been introduced House File 712forces vaccine makers to waive exemptions from lawsuits against potential vaccine liabilities.
“If you come up with a new idea and people love it, that’s great. But if it causes an injury and in the beginning it caused an injury, it was always a reward you have to pay for the injury you caused.”
“The advantage of this system is that it creates a group of potential injured people who hold the system accountable in a way that the government can never do. So it is a safety mechanism to ensure that the free market is protected by the public,” he continued.
Thomson also noted that opponents of the bill called his office to state that passing the bill could limit the availability of vaccines in Iowa.
He wasn’t overly optimistic that it would do it from Congress this year, but Thomson ultimately supported the bill.
“If I make something that turns out to be dangerous, I’ll pay for the outcome,” he told the caller. (Related: RFK Jr. brings new waves of voters to Republicans – can they protect them?)
When asked if he believed that Kennedy Jr. and the Maha movement had affected the unusually high calls he got about the bill, he replied, “I have no doubts in my heart.”
However, the Maha movement still has a long way to go to create true followers from all. February, Montana Legislature I hit it A bill banning the state’s mRNA vaccine.
But Maha has undoubtedly brought momentum to health advocates everywhere. In Florida, Ladapo leads the ban on fluoride and mRNA charging. At least 23 other states have taken up Maha-related bills since Kennedy’s HHS appointment, according to Calley Means.
Twenty-four states have introduced the Maha bill in the past month. Many of them are bipartisan.
I testified today lol @drmarkhyman @ferrisbuhler81 @humankarp and @travelingenes In Texas, we clean school lunches for simple bills to improve education and transparency for our children. pic.twitter.com/iwct5yqmy
– Calley Means (@CalleyMeans) February 26, 2025
