Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1025 Compare Versions

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1	1	88R3962 LRM-D
2	2	By: Kolkhorst S.B. No. 1025
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to immunization requirements and documentation, including
8	8	adverse event tracking following the administration of vaccines and
9	9	booster doses.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Sections 38.001(a) and (b-1), Education Code,
12	12	are amended to read as follows:
13	13	(a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), each [Each]
14	14	student shall be fully immunized against the diseases listed in
15	15	Section 161.004, Health and Safety Code [diphtheria, rubeola,
16	16	rubella, mumps, tetanus, and poliomyelitis, except as provided by
17	17	Subsection (c)].
18	18	(b-1) Each year, the Department of State Health Services
19	19	shall prepare a list of the immunizations required [under this
20	20	section] for admission to public schools [and of any additional
21	21	immunizations the department recommends for school-age children].
22	22	The department shall prepare the list in English and Spanish and
23	23	make the list available in a manner that permits a school district
24	24	to easily post the list on the district's Internet website as
25	25	required by Section 38.019.
26	26	SECTION 2. Section 38.019(a), Education Code, is amended to
27	27	read as follows:
28	28	(a) A school district that maintains an Internet website
29	29	shall post prominently on the website:
30	30	(1) a list, in English and Spanish, of:
31	31	(A) the immunizations required for admission to
32	32	public school in accordance with [by rules of the Department of
33	33	State Health Services adopted under] Section 38.001; and
34	34	(B) [any immunizations or vaccines recommended
35	35	for public school students by the Department of State Health
36	36	Services; and
37	37	[(C)] health clinics in the district that offer
38	38	the influenza vaccine, to the extent those clinics are known to the
39	39	district; and
40	40	(2) a link to the page on the Department of State
41	41	Health Services Internet website that provides [where a person may
42	42	obtain] information relating to the procedures for claiming an
43	43	exemption from the immunization requirements of Section 38.001.
44	44	SECTION 3. Sections 51.933(b) and (b-1), Education Code,
45	45	are amended to read as follows:
46	46	(b) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
47	47	Services Commission may require a student at an institution of
48	48	higher education who is pursing a course of study in a human or
49	49	animal health profession to be immunized [immunizations] against
50	50	the diseases listed in Subsection (a) and against hepatitis B,
51	51	measles, rabies, and varicella, as applicable. The [additional
52	52	diseases for students at any institution of higher education who
53	53	are pursuing a course of study in a human or animal health
54	54	profession, and the] executive commissioner may require those
55	55	immunizations for any students in times of an emergency or epidemic
56	56	in a county where the commissioner of state health services has
57	57	declared such an emergency or epidemic.
58	58	(b-1) A requirement [rule adopted] under Subsection (b) for
59	59	[that requires] a student to be immunized against hepatitis B
60	60	[vaccination for students] may apply only to students enrolled in a
61	61	course of study that involves potential exposure to human or animal
62	62	blood or bodily fluids.
63	63	SECTION 4. Sections 81.023(a) and (c), Health and Safety
64	64	Code, are amended to read as follows:
65	65	(a) The executive commissioner may recommend to the
66	66	legislature immunizations to include on the list of immunizations
67	67	required [department shall develop immunization requirements] for
68	68	children under Section 161.004.
69	69	(c) The department shall cooperate with the State Board of
70	70	Education in [formulating and] implementing immunization
71	71	requirements for students admitted to public or private primary or
72	72	secondary schools.
73	73	SECTION 5. Section 161.004(a), Health and Safety Code, is
74	74	amended to read as follows:
75	75	(a) Every child in the state shall be immunized against
76	76	diphtheria, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, measles, meningococcal,
77	77	mumps, pertussis, polio, rubella, tetanus, and varicella [vaccine
78	78	preventable diseases caused by infectious agents] in accordance
79	79	with the [immunization] schedule prescribed [adopted] in
80	80	department rules. The executive commissioner may not require
81	81	immunizations against any additional diseases for students
82	82	admitted to a public or private primary or secondary school.
83	83	SECTION 6. The heading to Section 161.0085, Health and
84	84	Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
85	85	Sec. 161.0085. [COVID-19] VACCINE PASSPORTS AND USE OF
86	86	CERTAIN IMMUNIZATION INFORMATION PROHIBITED.
87	87	SECTION 7. Section 161.0085, Health and Safety Code, is
88	88	amended by amending Subsections (b), (c), and (e) and adding
89	89	Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
90	90	(b) A person [governmental entity] in this state may not
91	91	issue a written or electronic vaccine passport, vaccine pass, or
92	92	other standardized documentation to certify an individual's
93	93	[COVID-19] vaccination status to a third party for a purpose other
94	94	than health care or otherwise publish or share any individual's
95	95	[COVID-19] immunization record or similar health information to
96	96	facilitate the individual's identification related to vaccination
97	97	status for a purpose other than health care.
98	98	(b-1) A person may not use information contained in the
99	99	immunization registry or any other immunization records collected
100	100	by a state agency or a local governmental entity, including a school
101	101	district, to issue or facilitate the issuance of a vaccine
102	102	passport, vaccine pass, or other standardized documentation to
103	103	certify an individual's vaccination status in violation of
104	104	Subsection (b).
105	105	(c) A business in this state may not require a customer to
106	106	provide any documentation certifying the customer's [COVID-19]
107	107	vaccination status or post-transmission recovery of a communicable
108	108	disease on entry to, to gain access to, or to receive service from
109	109	the business. A business that fails to comply with this subsection
110	110	is not eligible to receive a grant or enter into a contract payable
111	111	with state funds.
112	112	(e) This section may not be construed to:
113	113	(1) restrict a business from implementing [COVID-19]
114	114	screening and infection control protocols in accordance with state
115	115	and federal law to protect public health; or
116	116	(2) interfere with an individual's right to access the
117	117	individual's personal health information under federal law.
118	118	SECTION 8. Subchapter A, Chapter 161, Health and Safety
119	119	Code, is amended by adding Section 161.0086 to read as follows;
120	120	Sec. 161.0086. ADVERSE EVENT REPORTING SYSTEM FOR VACCINES
121	121	AND BOOSTER DOSES. (a) In this section "health care practitioner"
122	122	means an individual licensed or otherwise authorized by this state
123	123	to administer vaccines.
124	124	(b) The department shall establish and maintain on the
125	125	department's Internet website a publicly accessible reporting
126	126	system to track adverse events following the administration of a
127	127	vaccine or booster dose of that vaccine. The reporting system must:
128	128	(1) enable health care practitioners and other
129	129	individuals to submit information in accordance with this section;
130	130	and
131	131	(2) be maintained separately from the immunization
132	132	registry or any other statewide registry for tracking immunization
133	133	information.
134	134	(c) A health care practitioner who administers a vaccine or
135	135	booster dose of that vaccine to a patient shall submit to the
136	136	reporting system information on any adverse event the patient
137	137	experiences following the administration of the vaccine or booster
138	138	dose, regardless of whether the vaccine or booster dose caused the
139	139	adverse event.
140	140	(d) An individual who obtains a vaccine or booster dose of
141	141	that vaccine may report to the reporting system information on any
142	142	adverse event the individual experiences following the
143	143	administration of the vaccine or booster dose, regardless of
144	144	whether the vaccine or booster dose caused the adverse event.
145	145	(e) The appropriate licensing authority may impose
146	146	disciplinary action, including an administrative penalty, on a
147	147	health care practitioner who violates this section in the same
148	148	manner and using the same procedures as the authority uses to impose
149	149	disciplinary action on a health care practitioner who violates the
150	150	authority's licensing or other regulatory laws or rules.
151	151	(f) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules necessary
152	152	to implement this section, including rules to ensure that
153	153	information accessible through the reporting system does not
154	154	disclose personally identifiable information or information that
155	155	is confidential under state or federal law.
156	156	SECTION 9. The following provisions are repealed:
157	157	(1) Section 38.001(b), Education Code, as amended by
158	158	Chapters 43 (H.B. 1098) and 94 (H.B. 1059), Acts of the 80th
159	159	Legislature, Regular Session, 2007;
160	160	(2) Section 38.001(f), Education Code; and
161	161	(3) Section 161.0085(a), Health and Safety Code.
162	162	SECTION 10. (a) The changes in law made by this Act to
163	163	Chapter 38, Education Code, apply starting with the 2023-2024
164	164	school year.
165	165	(b) The changes in law made by this Act to Chapter 51,
166	166	Education Code, apply beginning with the 2023-2024 academic year.
167	167	SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.