85R2465 SCL-F
By: Davis of Harris H.B. No. 126
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an educational module certificate requirement for
certain immunization exemptions; authorizing a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 38.001(c) and (c-1), Education Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(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) the following documents:
(i) an affidavit signed by the applicant
or, if the applicant is a minor, by the applicant's parent or
guardian stating that the applicant declines immunization for
reasons of conscience, including a religious belief; and
(ii) a certificate verifying that the
applicant or, if the applicant is a minor, the applicant's parent or
guardian has completed the immunization educational module
described by Section 161.0041(f), Health and Safety Code; or
(2) is a member of the armed forces of the United
States and is on active duty.
(c-1) An affidavit submitted under Subsection (c)(1)(B)(i)
[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.
SECTION 2. Sections 51.9192(d), (d-2), and (d-3), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(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) the following documents:
(A) 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 a
written or electronic confirmation that the student has completed
the Internet-based process described by Subsection (d-3) for
declining the vaccination on that basis, as [if] applicable; and
(B) a certificate verifying that the student has
completed the immunization educational module described by Section
161.0041(f), Health and Safety Code [to the student].
(d-2) An affidavit submitted under Subsection (d)(2)(A)
[(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 and provide for submission of the
immunization educational module certificate under Subsection
(d)(2)(B). 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.
SECTION 3. Sections 51.933(d) and (d-1), Education Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(d) No form of immunization is required for a person's
admission to an institution of higher education 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
within 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) the following documents:
(i) an affidavit signed by the applicant
or, if the applicant is a minor, by the applicant's parent or
guardian stating that the applicant declines immunization for
reasons of conscience, including a religious belief; and
(ii) a certificate verifying that the
applicant or, if the applicant is a minor, the applicant's parent or
guardian has completed the immunization educational module
described by Section 161.0041(f), Health and Safety Code; or
(2) is a member of the armed forces of the United
States and is on active duty.
(d-1) An affidavit submitted under Subsection (d)(1)(B)(i)
[Section (d)(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.
SECTION 4. Section 161.004(d), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(d) A child is exempt from an immunization required by this
section if:
(1) a parent, managing conservator, or guardian states
that the immunization is being declined for reasons of conscience,
including a religious belief, and completes the immunization
educational module described by Section 161.0041(f); or
(2) the immunization is medically contraindicated
based on the opinion of a physician licensed by any state in the
United States who has examined the child.
SECTION 5. The heading to Section 161.0041, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 161.0041. IMMUNIZATION EXEMPTION AFFIDAVIT FORM;
IMMUNIZATION EDUCATIONAL MODULE.
SECTION 6. Section 161.0041, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1),
(f), and (g) 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 submit:
(1) [complete] an affidavit on a form provided by the
department stating the reason for the exemption; and
(2) a certificate verifying that the person has
completed the immunization educational module described by
Subsection (f).
(a-1) Subsection (a)(1) [This subsection] does not apply to
a person claiming the exemption using the Internet-based process
under Section 51.9192(d-3), Education Code.
(f) The department shall develop and maintain an Internet
website that contains an immunization educational module and
verification process to certify successful completion of the
module. The module must present evidence-based information that is
consistent with information published by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention concerning:
(1) epidemiology;
(2) the prevention of disease through the use of
vaccines; and
(3) the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
(g) The department may collect a fee for issuing a
certificate described by Subsection (a)(2) in an amount designed to
allow the department to recover from module users all of the
department's direct and indirect costs in developing and
maintaining the Internet website described by Subsection (f).
SECTION 7. Sections 42.043(d) and (d-1), Human Resources
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(d) No immunization may be required for admission to a
facility regulated under this chapter if a person applying for a
child's admission submits [one of the following affidavits]:
(1) an affidavit signed by a licensed physician
stating that the immunization poses a significant risk to the
health and well-being of the child or a member of the child's family
or household; or
(2) the following documents:
(A) an affidavit signed by the child's parent or
guardian stating that the applicant declines immunization for
reasons of conscience, including a religious belief; and
(B) a certificate verifying that the applicant's
parent or guardian has completed the immunization educational
module described by Section 161.0041(f), Health and Safety Code.
(d-1) An affidavit submitted under Subsection (d)(2)(A)
[Section (d)(2)] must be on a form described by Section 161.0041,
Health and Safety Code, and must be submitted not later than the
90th day after the date the affidavit is notarized.
SECTION 8. Not later than December 1, 2017, the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall
adopt rules to implement Sections 161.0041(f) and (g), Health and
Safety Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 9. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a person claiming an immunization exemption on the basis of
conscience, including a religious belief, on or after January 1,
2018. A person claiming an immunization exemption on the basis of
conscience before January 1, 2018, is governed by the law in effect
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.