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.