81R385 MCK-D

By: Howard of Fort Bend H.B. No. 3328

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to immunization requirements for children.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 81.023, Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 81.023. IMMUNIZATION. (a) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission may recommend to the legislature immunizations that may be added to the list of required immunizations [board shall develop immunization requirements] for children under Section 161.004, Sections 38.001 and 51.933, Education Code, and Section 42.043, Human Resources Code.

(b) Control measures imposed by the department or a local health authority under Section 81.082 during a public health disaster may require immunizations other than those listed in Section 161.004 only if the public health disaster occurs when the legislature is not in session. If the legislature is called to session during the disaster, the control measures requiring immunizations have no effect unless the legislature approves the control measures by joint resolution.

(c) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission [board] shall cooperate with the Department of Family and Protective [and Regulatory] Services in promoting [formulating and implementing] the immunization requirements for children admitted to child-care facilities.

(d) [(c)] The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission [board] shall cooperate with the State Board of Education in promoting the [formulating and implementing] immunization requirements for students admitted to public or private primary or secondary schools.

SECTION 2. Section 161.004(a), Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (d), each [Every] child in the state shall be immunized against hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, influenza, haemophilus influenzae type b, pneumococcal disease, poliomyelitis, rubeola, mumps, rubella, varicella, hepatitis A, and meningococcal disease [vaccine preventable diseases caused by infectious agents] in accordance with the [immunization] schedule adopted by the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission. The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission may not require immunizations against any additional diseases [board].

SECTION 3. Section 38.001, Education Code, as amended by Chapters 43 (H.B. 1098) and 94 (H.B. 1059), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:

Sec. 38.001. IMMUNIZATION; REQUIREMENTS; EXCEPTIONS. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), each [Each] student shall be fully immunized against diphtheria, rubeola, rubella, mumps, tetanus, pertussis, varicella, hepatitis B, and poliomyelitis and, for students attending a school in a high-incidence geographic area as determined by the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission, hepatitis A [, except as provided by Subsection (c)].

(b) The [Subject to Subsections (b-1) and (c), the] executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission may not modify or delete any of the immunizations in Subsection (a) and [or] may not require immunizations against additional diseases as a requirement for admission to any elementary or secondary school.

(b-1) Each year, the Department of State Health Services shall prepare a list of the immunizations required under this section for admission to public schools and of any additional immunizations the department recommends for school-age children. The department shall prepare the list in English and Spanish and make the list available in a manner that permits a school district to easily post the list on the district's Internet website as required by Section 38.019.

(b-2) [(b-1)] Immunization against human papillomavirus is not required for a person's admission to any elementary or secondary school; however, by using existing resources, the Health and Human Services Commission shall provide educational material about the human papillomavirus vaccine that is unbiased, medically and scientifically accurate, and peer reviewed, available to parents or legal guardians at the appropriate time in the immunization schedule by the appropriate school. This subsection preempts any contrary executive order issued by the governor. This subsection expires January 11, 2013 [2011].

(c) Immunization is not required for a person's admission to any elementary or secondary school if the person applying for admission:

(1) submits to the admitting official:

(A) an affidavit or a certificate signed by a physician who is duly registered and licensed to practice medicine in the United States, in which it is stated that, in the physician's opinion, the immunization required poses a significant risk to the health and well-being of the applicant or any member of the applicant's family or household; or

(B) an affidavit signed by the applicant or, if a minor, by the applicant's parent or guardian stating that the applicant declines immunization for reasons of conscience, including a religious belief; or

(2) is a member of the armed forces of the United States and is on active duty.

(c-1) An affidavit submitted under Section (c)(1)(B) must be on a form described by Section 161.0041, Health and Safety Code, and must be submitted to the admitting official not later than the 90th day after the date the affidavit is notarized.

(d) The Department of State Health Services shall provide the required immunization to children in areas where no local provision exists to provide those services.

(e) A person may be provisionally admitted to an elementary or secondary school if the person has begun the required immunizations and if the person continues to receive the necessary immunizations as rapidly as is medically feasible. The Department of State Health Services shall adopt rules relating to the provisional admission of persons to an elementary or secondary school.

(f) A person who has not received the immunizations required by this section for reasons of conscience, including because of the person's religious beliefs, may be excluded from school in times of a public health disaster as defined by Section 81.003, Health and Safety Code [emergency or epidemic declared by the commissioner of public health].

SECTION 4. Sections 51.933(b) and (e), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(b) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission [Texas Board of Health] may not require immunizations against [the diseases listed in Subsection (a) and] additional diseases for students at any institution of higher education [who are pursuing a course of study in a human or animal health profession, and the board may require those immunizations for any students in times of an emergency or epidemic in a county where the commissioner of public health has declared such an emergency or epidemic].

(e) A person who has not received the immunizations required by this section for reasons of conscience, including because of the person's religious beliefs, may be excluded from school in times of a public health disaster as defined by Section 81.003, Health and Safety Code. [The exception provided by Subsection (d)(1)(B) does not apply in a time of emergency or epidemic declared by the commissioner of public health.]

SECTION 5. Sections 42.043(a), (b), and (c), Human Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission [department] shall make rules for the immunization of children in facilities regulated under this chapter.

(b) Each [The department shall require that each] child at an appropriate age shall [have a test for tuberculosis and] be immunized against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis, mumps, rubella, rubeola, haemophilus influenzae type b, hepatitis B, varicella, [invasive] pneumococcal disease, and hepatitis A [and against any other communicable disease] as recommended by the Department of State Health Services. The immunization must be effective on the date of first entry into the facility. However, a child may be provisionally admitted if the required immunizations have begun and are completed as rapidly as medically feasible.

(c) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission [Texas Department of Health] shall make rules for the provisional admission of children to facilities regulated under this chapter. The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission [and] may not modify or delete any of the immunizations listed in Subsection (b) [of this section] or require additional immunizations as a requirement for admission to a facility.

SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2009.