88R7215 LRM-D
By: Kolkhorst S.B. No. 1024
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to preventative health care and public health; authorizing
a civil penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 38.001, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (b-1) and adding Subsection (b-2) to
read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), each [Each]
student shall be fully immunized against the diseases listed in
Section 161.004, Health and Safety Code [diphtheria, rubeola,
rubella, mumps, tetanus, and poliomyelitis, except as provided by
Subsection (c)].
(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) An elementary or secondary school may not require a
student, as a condition of the student's admission to or continued
enrollment in the school, to be vaccinated against the 2019 novel
coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
SECTION 2. Section 38.019(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A school district that maintains an Internet website
shall post prominently on the website:
(1) a list, in English and Spanish, of:
(A) the immunizations required for admission to
public school in accordance with [by rules of the Department of
State Health Services adopted under] Section 38.001; and
(B) [any immunizations or vaccines recommended
for public school students by the Department of State Health
Services; and
[(C)] health clinics in the district that offer
the influenza vaccine, to the extent those clinics are known to the
district; and
(2) a link to the page on the Department of State
Health Services Internet website that provides [where a person may
obtain] information relating to the procedures for claiming an
exemption from the immunization requirements of Section 38.001.
SECTION 3. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 51.91921 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.91921. PROHIBITION ON PRIVATE OR INDEPENDENT
INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION MANDATING COVID-19 VACCINATION
FOR STUDENTS. (a) In this section:
(1) "COVID-19" means the 2019 novel coronavirus
disease, including any variant.
(2) "Private or independent institution of higher
education" has the meaning assigned by Section 61.003.
(b) A private or independent institution of higher
education may not require a student, as a condition of the student's
admission to or continued enrollment in the institution, to be
vaccinated against COVID-19.
SECTION 4. Section 51.933, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b) and (b-1) and adding Subsection (b-2) to
read as follows:
(b) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission may require a student at an institution of
higher education who is pursing a course of study in a human or
animal health profession to be immunized [immunizations] against
the diseases listed in Subsection (a) and against hepatitis B,
measles, rabies, and varicella, as applicable. The [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] executive commissioner may require those
immunizations for any students in times of an emergency or epidemic
in a county where the commissioner of state health services has
declared such an emergency or epidemic.
(b-1) A requirement [rule adopted] under Subsection (b) for
[that requires] a student to be immunized against hepatitis B
[vaccination for students] may apply only to students enrolled in a
course of study that involves potential exposure to human or animal
blood or bodily fluids.
(b-2) An institution of higher education may not require a
student, as a condition of the student's admission to or continued
enrollment in the institution, to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as
defined by Section 51.91921.
SECTION 5. Sections 81.023(a) and (c), Health and Safety
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The executive commissioner may recommend to the
legislature immunizations to include on the list of immunizations
required [department shall develop immunization requirements] for
children under Section 161.004.
(c) The department shall cooperate with the State Board of
Education in [formulating and] implementing immunization
requirements for students admitted to public or private primary or
secondary schools.
SECTION 6. Section 161.004(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Every child in the state shall be immunized against
diphtheria, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, measles, meningococcal
disease, mumps, pertussis, polio, rubella, tetanus, and varicella
[vaccine preventable diseases caused by infectious agents] in
accordance with the [immunization] schedule prescribed [adopted]
in department rules. The executive commissioner may not require
immunizations against any additional diseases for students
admitted to a public or private primary or secondary school.
SECTION 7. Subchapter A, Chapter 161, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Sections 161.0086 and 161.0087 to read as
follows:
Sec. 161.0086. ADVERSE EVENT REPORTING SYSTEM FOR VACCINES
AND BOOSTER DOSES. (a) In this section, "health care practitioner"
means an individual licensed or otherwise authorized by this state
to administer vaccines.
(b) The department shall establish and maintain on the
department's Internet website a publicly accessible reporting
system to track adverse events following the administration of a
vaccine or booster dose of that vaccine. The reporting system must:
(1) enable health care practitioners and other
individuals to submit information in accordance with this section;
and
(2) be maintained separately from the immunization
registry or any other statewide registry for tracking immunization
information.
(c) A health care practitioner who administers a vaccine or
booster dose of that vaccine to a patient shall submit to the
reporting system information on any adverse event the patient
experiences following the administration of the vaccine or booster
dose, regardless of whether the vaccine or booster dose caused the
adverse event.
(d) An individual who obtains a vaccine or booster dose of
that vaccine may report to the reporting system information on any
adverse event the individual experiences following the
administration of the vaccine or booster dose, regardless of
whether the vaccine or booster dose caused the adverse event.
(e) The appropriate licensing authority may impose
disciplinary action, including an administrative penalty, on a
health care practitioner who violates this section in the same
manner and using the same procedures as the authority uses to impose
disciplinary action on a health care practitioner who violates the
authority's licensing or other regulatory laws or rules.
(f) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules necessary
to implement this section, including rules to ensure that
information accessible through the reporting system does not
disclose personally identifiable information or information that
is confidential under state or federal law.
Sec. 161.0087. PROHIBITION ON POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS
MANDATING COVID-19 VACCINATIONS. (a) In this section, "COVID-19"
means the 2019 novel coronavirus disease, including any variant.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, including Chapter 81 of
this code and Chapter 418, Government Code, a political subdivision
of this state may not issue an order, adopt an ordinance, or
otherwise require an individual to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
SECTION 8. Chapter 161, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Subchapter X to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER X. PROHIBITION ON MANDATED PREVENTATIVE CARE
Sec. 161.701. PROHIBITION ON FACE MASK REQUIREMENT. (a) A
governmental entity or a private entity that accepts any state
money may not require a person to wear a face mask or covering to
prevent the spread of a communicable disease.
(b) The Texas Education Agency shall adopt rules to prohibit
a private or public primary or secondary school from requiring a
student, teacher, other school employee, parent, or visitor to wear
a face mask or covering to prevent the spread of a communicable
disease.
Sec. 161.702. CIVIL PENALTY. (a) A governmental entity or
private entity that violates Section 161.701 is subject to a civil
penalty in an amount not to exceed $2,000 per day for each
violation.
(b) The attorney general may sue to collect the penalty
under this section and may recover reasonable expenses incurred in
collecting the penalty, including court costs, reasonable
attorney's fees, investigative costs, witness fees, and deposition
costs.
(c) Sovereign and governmental immunity to suit is waived
and abolished to the extent of liability created by this section.
SECTION 9. Subtitle H, Title 2, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 174 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 174. PATIENT RIGHTS
Sec. 174.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "health care
facility" means a hospital, freestanding emergency medical care
facility, urgent care or retail clinic, outpatient clinic, birthing
center, ambulatory surgical center, or other facility that is
licensed to provide health care services in this state.
Sec. 174.002. PROHIBITED DISCRIMINATION BASED ON
VACCINATION STATUS. A health care facility may not refuse to
provide health care services to an individual based on the
individual's vaccination status or post-transmission recovery of a
communicable disease.
Sec. 174.003. MEDICAID REIMBURSEMENT PROHIBITED. (a) The
commission:
(1) may not provide Medicaid reimbursement to a health
care facility that violates this chapter; and
(2) shall disenroll the facility from participation as
a Medicaid provider.
(b) The executive commissioner may adopt rules as necessary
to implement this section.
SECTION 10. Chapter 21, Labor Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter H-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER H-1. DISCRIMINATION BASED ON COVID-19 VACCINATION
STATUS
Sec. 21.421. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "COVID-19"
has the meaning assigned by Section 161.0087, Health and Safety
Code.
Sec. 21.422. PROHIBITED DISCRIMINATION BASED ON COVID-19
VACCINATION STATUS. (a) An employer commits an unlawful
employment practice if the employer fails or refuses to hire,
discharges, or otherwise discriminates against an individual with
respect to the compensation or the terms, conditions, or privileges
of employment because the individual has not been vaccinated
against COVID-19.
(b) A labor organization commits an unlawful employment
practice if the labor organization excludes or expels from
membership or otherwise discriminates against an individual
because the individual has not been vaccinated against COVID-19.
(c) An employment agency commits an unlawful employment
practice if the employment agency classifies or refers for
employment, fails or refuses to refer for employment, or otherwise
discriminates against an individual because the individual has not
been vaccinated against COVID-19.
SECTION 11. The following provisions are repealed:
(1) Section 38.001(b), Education Code, as amended by
Chapters 43 (H.B. 1098) and 94 (H.B. 1059), Acts of the 80th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2007; and
(2) Section 38.001(f), Education Code.
SECTION 12. If before implementing any provision of this
Act a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
waiver or authorization is granted.
SECTION 13. (a) The changes in law made by this Act to
Title 2, Education Code, apply beginning with the 2023-2024 school
year.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act to Title 3, Education
Code, apply beginning with the 2023-2024 academic year.
SECTION 14. Subchapter H-1, Chapter 21, Labor Code, as
added by this Act, applies only to an unlawful employment practice
that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 15. 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, 2023.