Texas 2013 83rd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB62 Comm Sub / Bill

                    By: Nelson S.B. No. 62
 (In the Senate - Filed November 12, 2012; January 28, 2013,
 read first time and referred to Committee on Higher Education;
 April 2, 2013, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0; April 2, 2013,
 sent to printer.)
 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 62 By:  Watson


 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 AN ACT
 relating to the vaccination against bacterial meningitis of
 entering students at public and private or independent institutions
 of higher education.
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 SECTION 1.  Section 51.9192, Education Code, is amended by
 amending Subsections (b), (d), and (d-1) and adding Subsections
 (d-2), (d-3), (d-4), (d-5), (d-6), and (f) to read as follows:
 (b)  This section applies only to an entering student at an
 institution of higher education or private or independent
 institution of higher education.  This section does not apply to a
 student of an institution who is enrolled only in online or other
 distance education courses or who is 22 [30] years of age or older.
 For purposes of this subsection, "entering student" includes:
 (1)  a new student, as defined by Section 51.9191; and
 (2)  a student who previously attended an institution
 of higher education or private or independent institution of higher
 education before January 1, 2012, and who is enrolling in the same
 or another institution of higher education or private or
 independent institution of higher education following a break in
 enrollment of at least one fall or spring semester.
 (d)  A student to whom this section applies or a parent or
 guardian of the student is not required to comply with Subsection
 (c) if the student or a parent or guardian of the student submits to
 the institution:
 (1)  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 vaccination required would be injurious to the health
 and well-being of the student; or
 (2)  an affidavit signed by the student stating that
 the student declines the vaccination for bacterial meningitis for
 reasons of conscience, including a religious belief, or
 confirmation that the student has completed the Internet-based
 process described by Subsection (d-3) for declining the vaccination
 on that basis, if applicable to the student.
 (d-1)  The [except that the] exemption provided by
 Subsection (d)(2) [this subdivision] does not apply during a
 disaster or public health emergency, terrorist attack, hostile
 military or paramilitary action, or extraordinary law enforcement
 emergency declared by an appropriate official or other authority
 and in effect for the location of the institution the student
 attends.
 (d-2)  An affidavit submitted under Subsection (d)(2) must
 be:
 (1)  on a form described by Section 161.0041, Health
 and Safety Code; and
 (2)  submitted to the appropriate admitting official
 not later than the 90th day after the date the affidavit is
 notarized.
 (d-3)  The Department of State Health Services shall develop
 and implement a secure, Internet-based process to be used
 exclusively at those public junior colleges that elect to use the
 process to allow an entering student to apply online for an
 exemption from the vaccination requirement under this section for
 reasons of conscience. The online process portal must be designed
 to ensure that duplicate exemption requests are avoided to the
 greatest extent possible. The exemption form used by a student to
 claim an exemption under the process must contain a statement
 indicating that the student understands the benefits and risks of
 the immunization and the benefits and risks of not receiving the
 immunization.
 (d-4)  A public junior college may require an entering
 student to use the Internet-based process under Subsection (d-3) as
 the exclusive method to apply for an exemption from the vaccination
 required under this section for reasons of conscience.
 (d-5)  The Department of State Health Services shall report
 to the legislature annually the number of exemptions applied for in
 the preceding academic year using the Internet-based process under
 Subsection (d-3).
 (d-6) [(d-1)]  An institution of higher education or private
 or independent institution of higher education shall provide, with
 the registration materials that the institution provides to a
 student to whom this section applies before the student's initial
 enrollment in the institution, written notice of the right of the
 student or of a parent or guardian of the student to claim an
 exemption from the vaccination requirement in the manner prescribed
 by Subsection (d) and of the importance of consulting a physician
 about the need for immunization to prevent the disease.
 (f)  In this section, "public junior college" has the meaning
 assigned by Section 61.003.
 SECTION 2.  Subsection (a), Section 161.0041, Health and
 Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
 (a)  A person claiming an exemption from a required
 immunization based on reasons of conscience, including a religious
 belief, under Section 161.004 of this code, Section 38.001,
 51.9192, or 51.933, Education Code, or Section 42.043, Human
 Resources Code, must complete an affidavit on a form provided by the
 department stating the reason for the exemption.  This subsection
 does not apply to a person claiming the exemption using the
 Internet-based process under Section 51.9192(d-3), Education Code.
 SECTION 3.  The changes in law made by this Act apply
 beginning with entering students enrolling in public or private or
 independent institutions of higher education in this state on or
 after January 1, 2014.
 SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect October 1, 2013.
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