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UPDATE: 3/14/2024 - ENACTED, HB 405 was signed by Governor Spencer J. Cox on 3/14/2023, The effective date is 5/1/2024. Public Law Number 283. Click HERE for a press release with all bills signed by Governor Cox on 3/14/2024.
UPDATE: 3/11/2024 - HB 405 was enrolled on 3/11/2024.
HB 405, as enrolled, aims to offer protection from vaccine requirements for medical students at higher education institutions if they cannot seek exemptions from vaccination mandates. Current law prohibits institutions of higher education from requiring face masks or vaccination for enrollment or attendance unless the institution allows for medical, religious, and personal exemptions, but students studying in a medical setting are exempt from this protection from mandates.
HB 405, as enrolled, establishes an exception to this exclusion of medical students' access to medical, religious, and personal exemptions by adding the condition, "if the institution of higher education provides the student the same rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to seek an exemption from a vaccination mandate or face covering mandate as the institution of higher education provides to a health care professional employed by the institution of higher education." Although this will offer an option for students studying in a medical setting to request a religious vaccine exemption, it does not require that an institution of higher education accept the exemption. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued some technical assistance to provide new information about how Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies when an employee requests a religious exemption. It says that Title VII only requires employers to "consider" requests for religious exemptions. It also says that "Employers that demonstrate “undue hardship” are not required to accommodate an employee’s request for a religious accommodation." There are no personal belief exemptions under Title VII. While a limited religious exemption is still an improvement over existing law, this is a step backwards for medical students compared to the broad exemptions available to medical students in the initially filed bill. However, if the limited religious exemption made available to employees under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act is not made available to the medical student, the bill provides a safety net to the medical student where they would have access to the same medical, religious, and personal vaccine exemptions available to other students.
NVIC cannot fully support the enrolled version of HB 405 because it discriminates against medical students by providing less comprehensive vaccine exemptions compared to other students. Prior to the amendment on 2/14/2024, the bill removed the exception for medical students altogether allowing them to take medical, religious, or personal belief exemptions to vaccine mandates just like all other students. HB 405 amends other provisions related to public health that are unrelated to vaccines. NVIC does not take a position on the rest of the bill's provisions which are unrelated to vaccines.
UPDATE: 3/1/2024 - HB 405 was sent to be enrolled on 3/1/2024.
UPDATE: 2/29/2024 - HB 405 returned to the House which then concurred with the Senate amendments by a vote of 58:11.
UPDATE: 2/29/2024 - HB 405 was amended in the Senate and passed 2nd and 3rd readings with a final vote of 24:3. Amendment 6 did not affect the section of the bill of interest to NVIC related to higher education vaccine exemption rights for medical students and NVIC does not take a position on the rest of this bill.
UPDATE: 2/27/2024 - HB 405 was amended and substituted on the Senate floor as recommended by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on 2/27/2024.
UPDATE: 2/26/2024 - HB 405 was reported with a favorable recommendation as amended by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on 2/26/2024, but Amendment 5 did not affect the section of the bill of interest to NVIC related to higher education vaccine exemption rights for medical students.
UPDATE: 2/23/2024 - HB 405 was introduced in the Senate and referred to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on 2/23/2024.
UPDATE: 2/22/2024 - HB 405 was passed on House third reading by a vote of 54:4. The House also adopted some amendments, but none affected the section of the bill of interest to NVIC related to higher education vaccine exemption rights for medical students.
UPDATE: 2/15/2024 - HB 405 was amended and substituted on the House 2nd Reading with Amendment 1 as recommended from the House Judiciary Committee on 2/15/2024. HB 405 now excludes medical students from existing broad medical, religious or personal vaccine and face mask exemptions in higher education when the school provides a limited religious exemption under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
UPDATE: 2/14/2024 - HB 405 received a favorable recommendation from the House Judiciary Committee on 2/14/2024 with recommended Amendment 1. Instead of just repealing the exception to the protection for medical students, this amendment instead excludes exemptions to students in a medical setting at an institute of higher education "if the institution of higher education provides the student the same rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to seek an exemption from a vaccination mandate or face covering mandate as the institution of higher education provides to a health care professional employed by the institution of higher education. " NVIC is opposed to the amendment. The bill prior to the amendment removed the exception for medical students altogether allowing them to take medical, religious or personal exemptions to vaccine mandates just like all other students. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued some technical assistance to provide new information about how Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies when an employee requests a religious exemption. It says that Title VII only requires employers to "consider" requests for religious exemptions. It also says that "Employers that demonstrate “undue hardship” are not required to accommodate an employee’s request for a religious accommodation." There are no personal belief exemptions under Title VII. While a limited religious exemption is still an improvement over existing law, this is a step backwards for medical students compared to the broad exemptions available to medical students in the initially filed bill. However, if the limited religious exemption made available to employees under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act is not made available to the medical student, the bill provides a safety net to the medical student where they would have access to the same medical, religious, and personal vaccine exemptions available to other students. Under the bill as amended, a medical student would minimally have the ability to apply for a limited religious exemption available that the school could still decline for "undue hardship" reasons, but if that limited religious exemption is not made available to the medical student, the medical student would have access to the same medical and personal exemptions available to other students. While the bill still can help some medical students have vaccine exemptions, NVIC can no longer support this bill and is removing our position of support and changing it to a WATCH position because of the arbitrary nature of the way a religious exemption could be denied. This also requires a title change to our bill posting from "Removes vaccine and face mask requirements for higher education students in medical settings" to "Excludes medical students from existing vaccine exemptions in higher ed when school provides Title VII Civil Rights Act ltd religious exemption." NVIC recommends everyone in Utah request that their Senator vote to OPPOSE House Committee Amendment 1.
UPDATE: 2/6/2024 - HB 405 was referred to the House Judiciary Committee on 2/6/2024.
HB 405 was introduced in the House on 1/26/2024. This bill is sponsored by Representative Kera Birkeland.
HB 405 removes vaccine and face mask requirements for higher education students in medical settings. Current law prohibits institutions of higher education from requiring faces masks or vaccination for enrollment or attendance unless the institution allows for medical, religious, and personal exemptions, but students studying in a medical setting are exempt from this protection from mandates. This bill removes this exception for medical students. This is part of a large bill making several public health amendments to multiple areas of law. NVIC does not take a position on the rest of the parts of this bill unrelated to vaccination.
HB 405 amends Title 53B, regarding higher education, Article 2, relating to higher education institutions, Section 113, regarding vaccination/face covering requirements, by eliminating the following:
SECTION 7.
(4) Subsections (1), (2), and (3) do not apply to a student studying in a medical setting at an institution of higher education.
Upon passage, HB 405 takes effect May 1, 2024.
NVIC SUPPORTS HB 405 because it enables students to exercise freedom of choice over masks and vaccine records and blocks higher education institutions from requiring face masks and proof of vaccination. NVIC is opposed to all mandates and requirements for private medical information. Every individual should make their own fully informed decisions on vaccination and face masks without coercion or penalty. The current law of Utah gives students in higher education the ability to keep their vaccine status private and to not mandate face masks for all, excluding students studying in medical settings. An improvement on this bill would be to prohibit all public and private entities from mandating face masks, vaccines, and proof of vaccination. NVIC does not take a position on parts of this bill not related to vaccines.
https://le.utah.gov/~2024/bills/static/HB0405.html - text, status, and history of HB 405
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