This bill passed the senate and the house and was signed by the governor on May 28, 2015. The contents of this page will be archived here for future analysis. 

This bill will remove the philosophical exemption and require those seeking religious exemptions to review of evidence-based educational material regarding immunizations. It will also expand access to a student’s immunization records to a school administrator and to enable interstate sharing of records within the State’s Immunization Registry. 

The bill that was originally passed by the house (read here) focused on the immunization registry, but the state senate passed in concurrence with proposal of amendment (read here) that includes the removal of philosophical exemptions and requires review of evidence-based educational material.

WHAT TO DO

H 98 passed the house and the senate and was signed by the governor. You can thank Gov. Shumlin for signing H98, by sending a message here.

TALKING POINTS

Eliminating the philosophical exemption and requiring review of evidence-based educational material will strengthen immunization rates. This is reasonable policy and will help keep our schools and communities healthy, and our children free from preventable disease.

Monitoring school vaccination rates will provide important data that will help keep our children safe – this is important to parents.