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UPDATE: 6/3/2024 - HB 908 was enacted, it was signed by Governor Jeff Landry on 6/3/2024 with an effective date of 8/1/2024; Act No. 460.
UPDATE: 5/24/2024 - HB 908 was enrolled and sent to the Governor for executive approval on 5/24/2024. View the Enrolled Version HERE. Contact Governor Jeff Landry at (225) 342-0991 or through email HERE and ask to SIGN HB 908.
UPDATE: 5/23/2024 - HB 908 passed the full Senate by a vote of 25 Yeas, 7 Nays, on 5/23/2024.
UPDATE: 5/14/2024 - HB 908 is eligible for a Senate floor vote as of 5/14/2024.
UPDATE: 5/8/2024 - HB 908 was reported favorably in the Senate Education Committee on 5/8/2024.
UPDATE: 5/1/2024 - HB 908 was referred to the Senate Education Committee on 5/1/2024.
UPDATE: 4/30/2024 - HB 908 passed the House 3rd Reading by a vote of 66 Yeas, 36 Nays, 3 Absent, on 4/30/2024.
UPDATE: 4/25/2024 - HB 908 is eligible for a House floor vote as of 4/25/2024. View the Engrossed Version HERE.
UPDATE: 4/24/2024 - HB 908 was reported favorably in the House Education Committee by a vote of 7 Yeas, 3 Nays, on 4/24/2024. View the Committee Report HERE.
UPDATE: 4/22/2024 - HB 908 is scheduled for a hearing in the House Education Committee on Wednesday, 4/24/2024 at 9:00AM in House Committee Room 1. View the Hearing Agenda HERE and the live stream video details HERE. Continue to contact the House Education Committee Members until a vote is taken. Sometimes a vote is not taken on the day of the hearing.
Written statements can be filed with the House Education Committee via e-mail at [email protected]. View the Guide to House Committee Meetings HERE.
UPDATE: 4/3/2024 - HB 908 was referred to the House Education Committee on 4/3/2024.
HB 908 was introduced in the House on 4/2/2024. This bill is sponsored by Representative Beryl Amedee.
HB 908 prohibits teachers, school employees, and administrators from discriminating against or differentiating between students based on their vaccination status.
HB 908 amends and reenacts R.S. 17:170(E), related to a student's vaccination status, to prohibit school educators and employees from discriminating against students based on the student's vaccination status. Existing law RS.17:170 requires vaccinations for school attendance and applies to any individual entering school, kindergartens, colleges, proprietary or vocational schools, and day care centers for the first time. Current law requires these individuals to present satisfactory evidence of immunity to or vaccination against vaccine-targeted diseases according to a pre-approved schedule and provides for exemptions from required vaccines for medical or personal belief objections. This law states that the schedule shall include measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, poliomyelitis, and hemophilus influenzae Type B invasive infections. HB 908 retains all present law, including exemption options, and adds a prohibition on discrimination, stating that school employees cannot differentiate between students based on whether or not a student has received a vaccine from this schedule.
SECTION 1. of HB 908 establishes 17:170(E)(2) and is summarized as follows:
E.(2) Prohibits teachers, school employees, and administrators from differentiating between students based on whether or not a student has or has not received vaccines from the schedule in this Section. The prohibited actions include but are not limited to (a) determination of eligibility for athletics or extracurricular activities, (b) allowing or denying participation inside and outside of the classroom, (c) issuance of surveys to students relating to vaccination status, and (d) organizing seating arrangements.
NVIC SUPPORTS HB 908 because it allows individuals to attend school without the fear of being discriminated against based on their vaccination status. NVIC supports an individual's right to make their own fully informed decisions regarding vaccines without harassment, coercion, or penalty. This includes an individual's right to refuse vaccination. Vaccines are pharmaceutical products that carry the risk of injury and even death. Unfortunately, this bill can only prevent vaccine discrimination up until an "outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease" is announced at a facility. Once this kind of outbreak is announced, RS.17:170(F) allows administrators to exclude unvaccinated individuals from the facility until the "disease incubation period has expired" or the individual becomes vaccinated and provides evidence of vaccination. An improvement to this bill would be to strike the current law found in RS.17:170 that requires vaccinations, including a vaccination schedule to attend a school or a day care facility and any exclusions of unvaccinated individuals. A better solution would be to enact a law that prohibits all school and facility-mandated vaccines and includes a prevailing clause that ensures the new law will supersede any present law that conflicts. No one should be forced to take a vaccine as a condition of receiving an education, nor should an individual be penalized for not receiving a vaccine.
https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?i=247106 - text, status, and history of HB 908
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