88R3962 LRM-D
By: Kolkhorst S.B. No. 1025
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to immunization requirements and documentation, including
adverse event tracking following the administration of vaccines and
booster doses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 38.001(a) and (b-1), Education Code,
are amended 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.
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. Sections 51.933(b) and (b-1), Education Code,
are amended 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.
SECTION 4. 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 5. 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,
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 6. The heading to Section 161.0085, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 161.0085. [COVID-19] VACCINE PASSPORTS AND USE OF
CERTAIN IMMUNIZATION INFORMATION PROHIBITED.
SECTION 7. Section 161.0085, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (b), (c), and (e) and adding
Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
(b) A person [governmental entity] in this state may not
issue a written or electronic vaccine passport, vaccine pass, or
other standardized documentation to certify an individual's
[COVID-19] vaccination status to a third party for a purpose other
than health care or otherwise publish or share any individual's
[COVID-19] immunization record or similar health information to
facilitate the individual's identification related to vaccination
status for a purpose other than health care.
(b-1) A person may not use information contained in the
immunization registry or any other immunization records collected
by a state agency or a local governmental entity, including a school
district, to issue or facilitate the issuance of a vaccine
passport, vaccine pass, or other standardized documentation to
certify an individual's vaccination status in violation of
Subsection (b).
(c) A business in this state may not require a customer to
provide any documentation certifying the customer's [COVID-19]
vaccination status or post-transmission recovery of a communicable
disease on entry to, to gain access to, or to receive service from
the business. A business that fails to comply with this subsection
is not eligible to receive a grant or enter into a contract payable
with state funds.
(e) This section may not be construed to:
(1) restrict a business from implementing [COVID-19]
screening and infection control protocols in accordance with state
and federal law to protect public health; or
(2) interfere with an individual's right to access the
individual's personal health information under federal law.
SECTION 8. Subchapter A, Chapter 161, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 161.0086 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.
SECTION 9. 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;
(2) Section 38.001(f), Education Code; and
(3) Section 161.0085(a), Health and Safety Code.
SECTION 10. (a) The changes in law made by this Act to
Chapter 38, Education Code, apply starting with the 2023-2024
school year.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act to Chapter 51,
Education Code, apply beginning with the 2023-2024 academic year.
SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.