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UPDATE: 7/27/2022 - B24-0920 signed by Mayor and enacted. Its provisions will expire on October 25th, 2022.
UPDATE: 7/21/2022 - B24-0920 transmitted to DC Mayor. Her response is due on August 4th, 2022.
B24-0920 was introduced by Councilmember Lewis George and Chairman Mendelson, and passed the DC Council in a 13-0 vote during a meeting on Tuesday, July 12th. Since it is "emergency" legislation which may be in effect for no longer than 90 days, it does not require congressional approval, and the next step for the bill is the Mayor's office.
Please contact DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and ask her to veto this bill:
Phone: 202-727-2643
Email: [email protected]
Click here to access the online "Ask the Mayor" submission form.
B24-0920, the Back-to-School Safely Emergency Act of 2022, requires the District of Columbia Department of Health (DC Health) to report the following to the DC Council by August 19th, 2022:
-The percentage of enrolled public and public charter school students who are "non-compliant students," meaning that they have neither certification of COVID-19 vaccination nor other required vaccinations in the DC vaccine registry or kept on file at their schools, and are not exempt from vaccine mandates.
The bill also requires DC Health and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) to report the following on a biweekly basis to the DC Council from 8/26/2022 through 11/30/2022:
-Updated percentages of "non-compliant students,"
-The total number of students, per school, who were previously absent or removed from school due to lack of vaccine records but were allowed to return once the school obtained proof of vaccination, and
-The total number of students, per school, who are currently absent or removed from school due to a lack of vaccine records after the 20-school day period for compliance provided in DC Code, and who are not receiving education services.
The bill also requires DC Health to report the following to the council, beginning on the first Friday after the bill is effective through 9/30/2022, and on a biweekly basis from 10/1/2022 through 11/30/2022:
-The dates, times, and addresses where mobile health providers and COVID-19 centers will be available to the public for pediatric immunizations during the next 7 calendar days, and
-The number of students who receive services at these sites each week,
The dates, times and addresses of the mobile health providers and COVID-19 centers must be widely promoted and posted publicly on DC Health and school websites, as well as on social media.
NVIC Advocacy is opposed to this bill. Essentially, it is requiring DC agencies to report to the Council on how many students are unvaccinated, as well as on efforts to increase compliance with harmful vaccine mandates. This bill is another example of the Council increasing pressure on schoolchildren and their families to comply with these mandates, and further promotes the tracking of children based on their vaccination status. NVIC Advocacy is opposed to both vaccine mandates and forced tracking.
NVIC Advocacy does not take a position on the part of the bill which is unrelated to vaccines.
https://lims.dccouncil.us/Legislation/B24-0920?FromSearchResults=true - text, status, and history of B24-0920.
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