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AN ACT relating to immunization disclosure. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 336 IS CREATED TO 3
READ AS FOLLOWS: 4
(1) As used in this section: 5
(a) "Employee" means any person employed by or suffered or permitted to 6
work for the employer; 7
(b) "Immunization status" means the status of either having received or not 8
received a vaccination against COVID-19, the novel coronavirus identified 9
as SARS-CoV-2, or a virus mutating from SARS-CoV-2, or any variant of 10
SARS-CoV-2; and 11
(c) "Public entity" means the Commonwealth of Kentucky, a county, city, 12
urban-county government, consolidated local government, unified local 13
government, or charter county government, or any of their agencies or 14
departments, or a public agency as defined in KRS 7.107. 15
(2) Notwithstanding any other provisions of the Kentucky Revised Statutes, a public 16
entity in the Commonwealth shall not require: 17
(a) An employee of the public entity to disclose his or her immunization status; 18
or 19
(b) An applicant for employment with the public entity to disclose his or her 20
immunization status as a condition of employment. 21
(3) A public entity shall not take adverse action against an employee or an applicant 22
for employment with the public entity who refuses to disclose his or her 23
immunization status. 24
(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to: 25
(a) Restrict a public entity from implementing infection screening and control 26
protocols in accordance with state and federal law to protect public health; 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS HB 28/GA
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or 1
(b) Interfere with an individual's right to access an individual's personal health 2
information under federal law. 3
(5) An employee or applicant for employment may bring against any public entity in 4
violation of this section, a civil action for injunctive relief, actual damages, 5
statutory damages of one thousand dollars ($1,000) per day per violation, and 6
punitive damages. 7
SECTION 2. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 164 IS CREATED TO 8
READ AS FOLLOWS: 9
(1) For the purposes of this section, "immunization status" means the status of 10
either having received or not received a vaccination against COVID-19, the novel 11
coronavirus identified as SARS-CoV-2, or a virus mutating from SARS-CoV-2, or 12
any variant of SARS-CoV-2. 13
(2) Notwithstanding any other provisions of the Kentucky Revised Statutes, a public 14
school in the postsecondary education system shall not require: 15
(a) A student, staff member, or faculty member to disclose his or her 16
immunization status; or 17
(b) A prospective student or an applicant for employment as a staff member or 18
faculty member to disclose his or her immunization status as a condition of 19
attendance or employment. 20
(3) A public school in the postsecondary education system shall not take adverse 21
action against a current student, staff, or faculty member, a prospective student, 22
or an applicant for employment as a staff or faculty member who refuses to 23
disclose his or her immunization status. Adverse action includes, without 24
limitation, denying him or her access to the premises, facilities, or services 25
offered by the public school. 26
(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to: 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS HB 28/GA
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(a) Restrict a public school from implementing infection screening and control 1
protocols in accordance with state and federal law to protect public health; 2
or 3
(b) Interfere with an individual's right to access an individual's personal health 4
information under federal law. 5
(5) Notwithstanding any other law, each appropriate state agency shall ensure that 6
all public schools in the postsecondary education system in this state comply with 7
this section. If a public school fails to comply with this section, it shall be deemed 8
ineligible to receive a state grant or enter into a contract payable with state funds, 9
and the state may deny the school authorization for operation. 10
SECTION 3. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 214 IS CREATED TO 11
READ AS FOLLOWS: 12
(1) As used in this section: 13
(a) "Immunization status" means the status of either having received or not 14
received a vaccination for COVID-19, the novel coronavirus identified as 15
SARS-CoV-2, or a virus mutating from SARS-CoV-2, or any variant of 16
SARS-CoV-2; and 17
(b) "Public entity" means the Commonwealth of Kentucky, a county, city, 18
urban-county government, consolidated local government, unified local 19
government, or charter county government, or any of their agencies or 20
departments, or a public agency as defined in KRS 7.107. 21
(2) A public entity shall not mandate a vaccine passport, vaccine pass, or issue 22
other standardized documentation to certify an individual's immunization 23
status to a third party for a purpose other than healthcare or otherwise 24
publish or share any individual's immunization status or similar health 25
information for a purpose other than healthcare. 26
(3) Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2) of this section, a public entity may share 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS HB 28/GA
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an individual's immunization status with another public entity or third party with 1
the consent of that individual. 2
Section 4. KRS 214.036 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) Nothing contained in KRS 158.035, 214.010, 214.020, 214.032 to 214.036, and 4
214.990 shall be construed to require: 5
(a) The testing for tuberculosis or the immunization of any child at a time when, 6
in the written opinion of his or her attending health care provider, such testing 7
or immunization would be injurious to the child's health; 8
(b) The immunization of any child whose parents or guardian are opposed to 9
medical immunization against disease, and who object by a written sworn 10
statement to the immunization of such child based on religious grounds;[ or] 11
(c) The immunization of any emancipated minor or adult who is opposed to 12
medical immunization against disease, and who objects by a written sworn 13
statement to the immunization based on religious grounds; or 14
(d) The immunization against COVID-19 of any emancipated minor or adult, 15
or any child whose parents or guardian are opposed to medical 16
immunization against COVID-19, and who objects by a written sworn 17
statement to the immunization on the basis of conscientiously held beliefs. 18
For the purposes of this subsection, the term "COVID-19" means the novel 19
coronavirus identified as SARS-CoV-2, or a virus mutating from SARS-20
CoV-2, or any variant of SARS-CoV-2. 21
(2) In the event of an epidemic in a given area, the Cabinet for Health and Family 22
Services may require the immunization of all persons within the area of epidemic, 23
against the disease responsible for such epidemic, except that any administrative 24
regulation promulgated pursuant to KRS Chapter 13A, administrative order issued 25
by the cabinet or a local public health department, or executive order issued 26
pursuant to KRS Chapter 39A requiring such immunization shall not include: 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS HB 28/GA
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(a) The immunization of any child or adult for whom, in the written opinion of 1
his or her attending health care provider, such testing or immunization would 2
be injurious to his or her health; 3
(b) The immunization of any child whose parents or guardians are opposed to 4
medical immunization against disease and who object by a written sworn 5
statement to the immunization based on religious grounds or conscientiously 6
held beliefs; or 7
(c) The immunization of any emancipated minor or adult who is opposed to 8
medical immunization against disease, and who objects by a written sworn 9
statement to the immunization based on religious grounds or conscientiously 10
held beliefs. 11
(3) The cabinet shall: 12
(a) Develop and make available on its Web site a standardized form relating to 13
exemptions in this section from the immunization requirements; and 14
(b) Accept a completed standardized form when submitted. 15