84R8216 MEW/KSD-D
	By: Villalba	H.B. No. 2006

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to exemptions from immunization requirements for public
	school students and students at public institutions of higher
	education.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Sections 38.001(c) and (f), Education Code, are
	amended to read as follows:
	(c)  Immunization is not required for a person's admission to
	any elementary or secondary school if the person applying for
	admission:
	(1)  submits to the admitting official:
	(A)  an affidavit or a certificate signed by a
	physician who is duly registered and licensed to practice medicine
	in the United States, in which it is stated that, in the physician's
	opinion, the immunization required poses a significant risk to the
	health and well-being of the applicant or any member of the
	applicant's family or household; or
	(B)  an affidavit signed by the applicant or, if a
	minor, by the applicant's parent or guardian stating that the
	applicant declines immunization for a specified and verifiable
	religious-based reason and that the immunization conflicts with the
	tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious
	denomination of which the applicant is an adherent or member
	[reasons of conscience, including a religious belief]; or
	(2)  is a member of the armed forces of the United
	States and is on active duty.
	(f)  A person who has not received the immunizations required
	by this section [for reasons of conscience, including] because of
	the person's specified and verifiable religious-based reason
	[religious beliefs,] may be excluded from school in times of
	emergency or epidemic declared by the commissioner of public
	health.
	SECTION 2.  Section 51.9192, Education Code, is amended by
	amending Subsections (c), (d), (d-1), (d-2), (d-3), (d-4), and
	(d-6) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
	(c)  Except as provided by Subsection (c-1) or (d), a student
	to whom this section applies or a parent or guardian of the student
	must provide to the institution, at the time and in the manner
	prescribed by rules adopted by the Texas Higher Education
	Coordinating Board, a certificate signed by a health practitioner
	or an official immunization record evidencing that the student has
	received a bacterial meningitis vaccination dose or booster during
	the five-year period preceding the date established by the
	coordinating board under Subsection (e).
	(c-1)  A student to whom this section applies who is an
	entering student at an institution of higher education, or a parent
	or guardian of the student, is not required to comply with
	Subsection (c) if the student or a parent or guardian of the student
	submits to the institution:
	(1)  an affidavit or a certificate signed by a
	physician who is duly registered and licensed to practice medicine
	in the United States in which it is stated that, in the physician's
	opinion, the vaccination required would be injurious to the health
	and well-being of the student; or
	(2)  an affidavit signed by the student stating that
	the student declines the vaccination for bacterial meningitis for
	a specified and verifiable religious-based reason and that the
	immunization conflicts with the tenets and practices of a
	recognized church or religious denomination of which the student is
	an adherent or member or confirmation that the student has
	completed the Internet-based process described by Subsection (d-3)
	for declining the vaccination on that basis, if applicable to the
	student.
	(d)  A student to whom this section applies who is an
	entering student at a private or independent institution of higher
	education, or a parent or guardian of the student, is not required
	to comply with Subsection (c) if the student or a parent or guardian
	of the student submits to the institution:
	(1)  an affidavit or a certificate signed by a
	physician who is duly registered and licensed to practice medicine
	in the United States in which it is stated that, in the physician's
	opinion, the vaccination required would be injurious to the health
	and well-being of the student; or
	(2)  an affidavit signed by the student stating that
	the student declines the vaccination for bacterial meningitis for
	reasons of conscience, including a religious belief [, or
	confirmation that the student has completed the Internet-based
	process described by Subsection (d-3) for declining the vaccination
	on that basis, if applicable to the student].
	(d-1)  The exemptions [exemption] provided by Subsection
	(c-1)(2) and (d)(2) do [does] not apply during a disaster or public
	health emergency, terrorist attack, hostile military or
	paramilitary action, or extraordinary law enforcement emergency
	declared by an appropriate official or other authority and in
	effect for the location of the institution the student attends.
	(d-2)  An affidavit submitted under Subsection (c-1)(2) or
	(d)(2) must be:
	(1)  on a form described by Section 161.0041, Health
	and Safety Code; and
	(2)  submitted to the appropriate admitting official
	not later than the 90th day after the date the affidavit is
	notarized.
	(d-3)  The Department of State Health Services shall develop
	and implement a secure, Internet-based process to be used
	exclusively at those public junior colleges that elect to use the
	process to allow an entering student to apply online for an
	exemption from the vaccination requirement under this section for a
	religious-based reason described by Subsection (c-1)(2) [reasons
	of conscience].  The online process portal must be designed to
	ensure that duplicate exemption requests are avoided to the
	greatest extent possible.  The exemption form used by a student to
	claim an exemption under the process must contain a statement
	indicating that the student understands the benefits and risks of
	the immunization and the benefits and risks of not receiving the
	immunization.
	(d-4)  A public junior college may require an entering
	student to use the Internet-based process under Subsection (d-3) as
	the exclusive method to apply for an exemption from the vaccination
	required under this section for a religious-based reason described
	by Subsection (c-1)(2) [reasons of conscience].
	(d-6)  An institution of higher education or private or
	independent institution of higher education shall provide, with the
	registration materials that the institution provides to a student
	to whom this section applies before the student's initial
	enrollment in the institution, written notice of the right of the
	student or of a parent or guardian of the student to claim an
	exemption from the vaccination requirement in the manner prescribed
	by Subsection (c-1) or (d), as applicable to the institution, and of
	the importance of consulting a physician about the need for
	immunization to prevent the disease.
	SECTION 3.  Section 51.933(d), Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(d)  No form of immunization is required for a person's
	admission to an institution of higher education if the person
	applying for admission:
	(1)  submits to the admitting official:
	(A)  an affidavit or a certificate signed by a
	physician who is duly registered and licensed to practice medicine
	within the United States in which it is stated that, in the
	physician's opinion, the immunization required poses a significant
	risk to the health and well-being of the applicant or any member of
	the applicant's family or household; or
	(B)  an affidavit signed by the applicant or, if a
	minor, by the applicant's parent or guardian stating that the
	applicant declines immunization for a specified and verifiable
	religious-based reason and that the immunization conflicts with the
	tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious
	denomination of which the student is an adherent or member [reasons
	of conscience, including a religious belief]; or
	(2)  is a member of the armed forces of the United
	States and is on active duty.
	SECTION 4.  Section 161.004, Health and Safety Code, is
	amended by adding Subsection (d-1) to read as follows:
	(d-1)  Subsection (d) does not authorize an exemption based
	on conscience for a student subject to Section 38.001,
	51.9192(c-1), or 51.933, Education Code.
	SECTION 5.  Section 161.0041, Health and Safety Code, is
	amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to
	read as follows:
	(a)  A person claiming an exemption from a required
	immunization [based on reasons of conscience, including a religious
	belief, under Section 161.004 of this code, Section 38.001,
	51.9192, or 51.933, Education Code, or Section 42.043, Human
	Resources Code,] must complete an affidavit on a form provided by
	the department stating the [reason for the] exemption is based on:
	(1)  reasons of conscience, including a religious
	belief, under Section 161.004 of this code, Section 51.9192(d)(2),
	Education Code, or Section 42.043, Human Resources Code; or
	(2)  a specified and verifiable religious-based reason
	under Section 38.001, 51.9192(c-1)(2), or 51.933, Education Code.
	(a-1)  Subsection (a) [This subsection] does not apply to a
	person claiming an [the] exemption using the Internet-based process
	under Section 51.9192(d-3), Education Code.
	SECTION 6.  The changes in law made by this Act to Section
	38.001, Education Code, relating to public school students apply
	beginning with the 2015-2016 school year.
	SECTION 7.  The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
	51.9192 and 51.933, Education Code, apply only to entering students
	enrolling in public institutions of higher education in this state
	beginning with the 2015 fall semester.
	SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
	Act takes effect September 1, 2015.