Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB117 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R2448 LRM-D
2	2	By: Hall S.B. No. 117
3	3
4	4
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to required immunizations for children and primary or
10	10	secondary school students.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Sections 81.023(a) and (c), Health and Safety
13	13	Code, are amended to read as follows:
14	14	(a) The executive commissioner may recommend to the
15	15	legislature immunizations to include on the list of immunizations
16	16	required [department shall develop immunization requirements] for
17	17	children under Section 161.004.
18	18	(c) The department shall cooperate with the State Board of
19	19	Education in [formulating and] implementing immunization
20	20	requirements for students admitted to public or private primary or
21	21	secondary schools.
22	22	SECTION 2. Section 161.004(a), Health and Safety Code, is
23	23	amended to read as follows:
24	24	(a) Every child in the state shall be immunized against
25	25	diphtheria, mumps, poliomyelitis, rubella, rubeola, and tetanus
26	26	[vaccine preventable diseases caused by infectious agents] in
27	27	accordance with the [immunization] schedule prescribed [adopted]
28	28	in department rules. The executive commissioner may not require
29	29	immunizations against any additional diseases for students
30	30	admitted to a public or private primary or secondary school.
31	31	SECTION 3. Sections 38.001(a) and (b-1), Education Code,
32	32	are amended to read as follows:
33	33	(a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), each [Each]
34	34	student shall be fully immunized against the diseases listed in
35	35	Section 161.004, Health and Safety Code [diphtheria, rubeola,
36	36	rubella, mumps, tetanus, and poliomyelitis, except as provided by
37	37	Subsection (c)].
38	38	(b-1) Each year, the Department of State Health Services
39	39	shall prepare a list of the immunizations required under Section
40	40	161.004, Health and Safety Code, [this section] for admission to
41	41	public schools [and of any additional immunizations the department
42	42	recommends for school-age children]. The department shall prepare
43	43	the list in English and Spanish and make the list available in a
44	44	manner that permits a school district to easily post the list on the
45	45	district's Internet website as required by Section 38.019.
46	46	SECTION 4. Section 38.019(a), Education Code, is amended to
47	47	read as follows:
48	48	(a) A school district that maintains an Internet website
49	49	shall post prominently on the website:
50	50	(1) a list, in English and Spanish, of:
51	51	(A) the immunizations required for admission to
52	52	public school in accordance with [by rules of the Department of
53	53	State Health Services adopted under] Section 38.001; and
54	54	(B) [any immunizations or vaccines recommended
55	55	for public school students by the Department of State Health
56	56	Services; and
57	57	[(C)] health clinics in the district that offer
58	58	the influenza vaccine, to the extent those clinics are known to the
59	59	district; and
60	60	(2) a link to the page on the Department of State
61	61	Health Services Internet website that provides [where a person may
62	62	obtain] information relating to the procedures for claiming an
63	63	exemption from the immunization requirements of Section 38.001.
64	64	SECTION 5. Section 42.043(b), Human Resources Code, is
65	65	amended to read as follows:
66	66	(b) The department shall require that each child at an
67	67	appropriate age have a test for tuberculosis and be immunized
68	68	against the diseases listed in Section 161.004, Health and Safety
69	69	Code [diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis, mumps, rubella, rubeola,
70	70	invasive pneumococcal disease, and hepatitis A and against any
71	71	other communicable disease as recommended by the Department of
72	72	State Health Services]. The immunization must be effective on the
73	73	date of first entry into the facility. However, a child may be
74	74	provisionally admitted if the required immunizations have begun and
75	75	are completed as rapidly as medically feasible.
76	76	SECTION 6. Section 38.001(b), Education Code, as amended by
77	77	Chapters 43 (H.B. 1098) and 94 (H.B. 1059), Acts of the 80th
78	78	Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, is repealed.
79	79	SECTION 7. The changes in law made by this Act to Chapter
80	80	38, Education Code, apply starting with the 2025-2026 school year.
81	81	SECTION 8. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
82	82	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
83	83	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
84	84	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
85	85	Act takes effect September 1, 2025.