Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that requires parents to submit a waiver if they choose not to vaccinate their child.

Highlights:

• Specifies that students attending a nonpublic home-based educational program or an independent school providing a basic academic education, are not required to have up-to-date certificates of immunization (Sec. 2).

• Requires the Department of Public Health and Environment to develop and make available educational material concerning the benefits of immunizations, to health care providers and facilities, on or before January 1, 2020 (Sec. 2).

• Requires the parents or legal guardians of a child attending public school, to complete and submit to their child’s school, certification of a medical exemption from a licensed physician, authorized physician assistant, or advanced practice nurse if they wish to exempt their child from immunization requirements for medical reasons (Sec. 3).

• Requires the parents or legal guardians of a child attending public school and wishing to exempt their child from immunization requirements for belief related reasons, to complete the certificate of a religious or personal belief exemption on a standardized form developed by the Department of Public Health and Environment and to submit this certification in person to the Department of Public Health and Environment or the applicable local health agency, which in turn will provide a copy signed by a representative of the department or agency to the parent or legal guardian for submitting to the child’s school (Sec. 3).

• Requires the Department of Public Health and Environment to post the standardized form for a certificate of a religious or personal belief exemption on its website on or before January 1, 2020 (Sec. 3).

• Prohibits the certificate of a religious or personal belief exemption form to require a parent or legal guardian, or student who is emancipated or eighteen years of age or older, to provide any information identifying their religious faith (Sec. 3).

• Requires the forms for belief-based immunization exemptions to include information that describes where someone can access credible and scientific-based information regarding the benefits and risks of immunizations (Sec. 3).

• Requires the state board of health to adopt by rule the medical exemption recommendations based on contraindications for vaccinations as detailed by the advisory committee on immunization practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Federal Department of Health and Human Services, or any successor entity (Sec. 3).

• Requires the state board of health to establish rules that establish the type of immunizations required, which must include those for Hepatitis A, Rotavirus, and Meningococcal, and the manner and frequency of their administration, which must conform to recognized standard medical practices (Sec. 4).

• Requires the state board of health to establish and carry out rules for the timing regarding when schools, parents, legal guardians, or students need to comply with immunization requirements for school entry or grade level entry (Sec. 4).

• Establishes a comprehensive immunization tracking system with immunization information gathered by state and local health officials for enabling the gathering of epidemiological information and investigation and control of communicable diseases (Sec. 5).

• Establishes that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety (Sec. 6).

Full Bill Text