NY State Senate Bill S2994A

Archive: Last Bill Status Via A2371 - Signed by Governor

Introduced
In Committee
On Floor Calendar
- Passed Senate
- Passed Assembly
Delivered to Governor
Signed by Governor

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Actions

view actions (12)

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jun 13, 2019	signed chap.35 delivered to governor returned to assembly passed senate 3rd reading cal.1338 substituted for s2994a
Jun 13, 2019	substituted by a2371a ordered to third reading cal.1338 committee discharged and committed to rules
May 19, 2019	print number 2994a
May 19, 2019	amend and recommit to health
Jan 31, 2019	referred to health

Votes

Bill Amendments

Original

A (Active)

Original

A (Active)

Co-Sponsors

view additional co-sponsors

S2994 - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A2371
Law Section:: Public Health Law
Laws Affected:: Rpld §2164 sub 9, amd §§2164 & 2168, Pub Health L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2015-2016: S6017, A8329
2017-2018: S52, A1810

S2994 - Summary

Relates to exemptions from vaccinations due to religious beliefs; and repeals certain provisions relating to exemption from vaccination due to religious beliefs.

S2994 - Sponsor Memo

 
BILL NUMBER: S2994

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to repeal subdivision 9 of section 2164 of the public health law,
relating to exemption from vaccination due to religious beliefs

 
PURPOSE:

This bill would repeal all non-medical exemptions from vaccination
requirements for children.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill repeals subdivision 9 of section 2164 of the
public health law.

Section 2 provides that the act shall take effect immediately.

JUSTIFICATION:

Existing New York State law requires all children in New York to receive
certain immunizations for poliomyelitis, mumps, measles, diphtheria,
rubella, HiB, hepatitis B, and varicella. The law provides an exemption
from the immunization requirements where a physician certifies that the
immunization may be detrimental to a child's health.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, sustaining a high vaccina-
tion rate among school children is vital to the prevention of disease
outbreaks, including the reestablishment of diseases that have been
largely eradicated in the United States, such as measles.  According to
State data from 2013-2014, there are at least 285 schools in New York
with an immunization rate below 85%, including 170 schools below 70%,
far below the CDC's goal of at least a 95% vaccination rate to maintain
herd immunity. This bill would repeal exemptions currently found in the
law for children whose parents have non-medical objections to immuniza-
tions.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S.0052 of 2017-2018 (Hoylman): Died in Health

A.1810 of 2017-2018 (Dinowitz): Died in Health

S.6017 of 2015-2016 (Hoylman): Died in Rules (2015)/Died in Health
(2016)

A.8329 of 2015-2016 (Dinowitz): Died in Health

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

S2994 - Bill Text download pdf


                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  2994

                       2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 31, 2019
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Health

AN ACT to repeal subdivision 9 of section 2164 of the public health law,
  relating to exemption from vaccination due to religious beliefs

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Subdivision 9 of section 2164 of the public health law is
REPEALED.
  § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.








 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD00724-01-9

Co-Sponsors

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S2994A (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A2371
Law Section:: Public Health Law
Laws Affected:: Rpld §2164 sub 9, amd §§2164 & 2168, Pub Health L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2015-2016: S6017, A8329
2017-2018: S52, A1810

S2994A (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to exemptions from vaccinations due to religious beliefs; and repeals certain provisions relating to exemption from vaccination due to religious beliefs.

S2994A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

 
BILL NUMBER: S2994A              REVISED 05/21/19

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the public health law, in relation to
exemptions from vaccination due to religious beliefs; to repeal subdivi-
sion 9 of section 2164 of the public health law, relating to exemption
from vaccination due to religious beliefs; and providing for the repeal
of certain provisions upon expiration thereof

 
PURPOSE:

This bill would repeal all non-medical exemptions from vaccination
requirements for children.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill repeals subdivision 9 of section 2164 of the
public health law.

Section 2 of the bill strikes a reference in subdivision 6 of section
2164 of the public health law to the repealed subdivision 9.

Section 2 also amends subdivision 7 of section 2164 to allow unvaccinat-
ed children a grace period during which they can still attend school or
day care, provided they can demonstrate that they have received at least
the first dose of each required immunization series, and have age-appro-
priate appointments scheduled to complete such immunization series.

Section 3 strikes a reference in subdivision 5 of section 2168 of the
public health law to the repealed subdivision 9 of section 2164.

Section 4 establishes the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The United States is currently experiencing the worst outbreak of
measles since 1994, a disease that, in a major public health victory,
officials declared eliminated from the United States in 2000.  880 cases
of measles have been confirmed nationwide so far in 2019.

Outbreaks in New York have been the primary driver of this epidemic.  As
of May 20th, 2019, there have been at least 810 confirmed cases of
measles in New York State since October 2018. The outbreaks have largely
been concentrated in communities in Brooklyn and Rockland County with
precipitously low immunization rates, some as low as 70 percent.

For guidance in dealing with this epidemic, we need only look to Cali-
fornia, which repealed all non-medical exemptions to vaccination
requirements under their state law after suffering an outbreak at
Disneyland in 2014 that resulted in at least 131 cases of measles (about
six times fewer cases than the current number of cases confirmed in New
York).

After California repealed their non-medical exemptions, their vaccina-
tion rates improved demonstrably, particularly in schools with the
lowest rates of compliance. The percentage of kindergarten students in
the 2017-18 school year with all their required vaccines was 95.1% - a
4.7 percentage point increase over 2014-15.

New York's law currently allows children to avoid vaccinations on the
grounds that they contradict the "genuine and sincere religious beliefs"
of the child's parent or guardian. New York should follow California's
example and repeal this provision of law.

Although freedom of religious expression is a founding tenet of this
nation, there is longstanding precedent establishing that one's right to
free religious expression does not include the right to endanger the
health of the community, one's children, or the children of others.

As far back as 1905, the U.S. Supreme Court held that it is within the
police power of a State to enact a compulsory vaccination law in Jacob-
son v. Massachusetts. In the 1944 case Prince v. Massachusetts upholding
a conviction for a child labor law violation against a free exercise of
religion claim, the U.S. Supreme Court observed that "the right to prac-
tice religion freely does not include liberty to expose the community or
the child to communicable disease or the latter to ill health or death."

In 2015, citing the Jacobson and Prince rulings as precedent, the Second
Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals opined in their ruling in Phillips
v. City of New York that "New York could constitutionally require that
all children be vaccinated in order to attend public school." The court
also stated, "New York law goes beyond what the Constitution requires by
allowing an exemption for parents with genuine and sincere religious
beliefs."

New York's Constitution specifically states that its protections for the
free exercise of religion "shall not be so construed as to justify prac-
tices inconsistent with the peace or safety of this state."

This legislation would repeal New York's religious exemption for vacci-
nation requirements to protect the health of all New Yorkers, partic-
ularly our children.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2017-18: S.52 (Hoylman) - Died in Health
2016: S.6017 (Hoylman) - Died in Health
2015: S.6017 (Hoylman) - Died in Rules

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that the
amendments to subdivision 7 of section 2164 of the public health law
made by section two of this act shall expire and be deemed repealed June
30, 2020.

S2994A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf


                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                 2994--A

                       2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 31, 2019
                               ___________

Introduced by Sens. HOYLMAN, BAILEY, BIAGGI, CARLUCCI, KRUEGER, MONTGOM-
  ERY,  RAMOS, SALAZAR, SKOUFIS, THOMAS -- read twice and ordered print-
  ed, and when printed to be committed to the  Committee  on  Health  --
  committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
  recommitted to said committee

AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation  to  exemptions  from
  vaccination  due  to  religious  beliefs;  to  repeal subdivision 9 of
  section 2164 of the public health  law,  relating  to  exemption  from
  vaccination  due to religious beliefs; and providing for the repeal of
  certain provisions upon expiration thereof

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Subdivision 9 of section 2164 of the public health law is
REPEALED.
  § 2. Subdivisions 6 and 7 of section 2164 of the public health law, as
amended by chapter 401 of the laws of  2015,  are  amended  to  read  as
follows:
  6.  In  the  event that a person in parental relation to a child makes
application for admission of such child to  a  school  or  has  a  child
attending  school  and  there  exists no certificate or other acceptable
evidence of  the  child's  immunization  against  poliomyelitis,  mumps,
measles,  diphtheria,  rubella, varicella, hepatitis B, pertussis, teta-
nus, and, where applicable, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib),  menin-
gococcal  disease,  and  pneumococcal  disease,  the principal, teacher,
owner or person in charge of the school shall inform such person of  the
necessity  to  have  the  child immunized, that such immunization may be
administered by any health practitioner, or that the child may be immun-
ized without charge by the health officer in the county where the  child
resides,  if  such person executes a consent therefor. In the event that
such person does not wish to select a health practitioner to  administer
the  immunization,  he  or she shall be provided with a form which shall

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                           LBD00724-04-9

S. 2994--A                          2

give notice that as a prerequisite to  processing  the  application  for
admission  to,  or  for  continued attendance at, the school such person
shall state a valid reason for withholding consent or consent  shall  be
given  for  immunization  to  be administered by a health officer in the
public employ, or by a school physician or nurse. The form shall provide
for the execution of a consent by such person and it  shall  also  state
that  such person need not execute such consent if subdivision eight [or
nine] of this section [apply] APPLIES to such child.
  7. (a) No principal, teacher, owner or person in charge  of  a  school
shall  permit any child to be admitted to such school, or to attend such
school, in excess of fourteen days, without the certificate provided for
in subdivision five of this section or some other acceptable evidence of
the child's immunization against poliomyelitis, mumps, measles, diphthe-
ria, rubella, varicella, hepatitis B,  pertussis,  tetanus,  and,  where
applicable,  Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), meningococcal disease,
and pneumococcal disease; provided, however, such  fourteen  day  period
may  be  extended to not more than thirty days for an individual student
by the appropriate principal, teacher, owner or other person  in  charge
where  such  student  is  transferring from out-of-state or from another
country and can show a good faith effort to get  the  necessary  certif-
ication or other evidence of immunization OR WHERE THE PARENT, GUARDIAN,
OR  ANY  OTHER  PERSON IN PARENTAL RELATIONSHIP TO SUCH CHILD CAN DEMON-
STRATE THAT A CHILD HAS RECEIVED AT LEAST THE FIRST DOSE IN EACH IMMUNI-
ZATION SERIES REQUIRED BY THIS SECTION AND HAS AGE APPROPRIATE  APPOINT-
MENTS  SCHEDULED  TO  COMPLETE  THE IMMUNIZATION SERIES ACCORDING TO THE
ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON IMMUNIZATION  PRACTICES  RECOMMENDED  IMMUNIZATION
SCHEDULES FOR PERSONS AGED 0 THROUGH 18 YEARS.
  (b)  A parent, a guardian or any other person in parental relationship
to a child denied school entrance or attendance may appeal  by  petition
to  the  commissioner  of education in accordance with the provisions of
section three hundred ten of the education law.
  § 3. Paragraph (f) of subdivision 5 of  section  2168  of  the  public
health law, as amended by chapter 154 of the laws of 2013, is amended to
read as follows:
  (f)  The  immunization  status  of  children exempt from immunizations
pursuant to subdivision eight of section twenty-one  hundred  sixty-four
of  this  title [and a parent claiming exemption pursuant to subdivision
nine of section twenty-one hundred sixty-four of this  title]  shall  be
reported by the health care provider.
  §  4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amend-
ments to subdivision 7 of section 2164 of the public health law made  by
section  two  of  this  act shall expire and be deemed repealed June 30,
2020.

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The New York State Senate

senate Bill S2994A

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status Via A2371 - Signed by Governor

Your Voice

Actions

Votes

Jun 13, 2019 - floor Vote

Floor Vote: Jun 13, 2019

Jun 13, 2019 - Rules committee Vote

Rules Committee Vote: Jun 13, 2019

Bill Amendments

Co-Sponsors

S2994 - Details

S2994 - Summary

S2994 - Sponsor Memo

S2994 - Bill Text download pdf

Co-Sponsors

S2994A (ACTIVE) - Details

S2994A (ACTIVE) - Summary

S2994A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S2994A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

senate Bill S2994A

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Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status Via A2371 - Signed by Governor

Your Voice

Actions

Votes

Jun 13, 2019 - floor Vote

Floor Vote: Jun 13, 2019

Jun 13, 2019 - Rules committee Vote

Rules Committee Vote: Jun 13, 2019

Bill Amendments

Co-Sponsors

S2994 - Details

S2994 - Summary

S2994 - Sponsor Memo

S2994 - Bill Text download pdf

Co-Sponsors

S2994A (ACTIVE) - Details

S2994A (ACTIVE) - Summary

S2994A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S2994A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments