An attempt to revoke the philosophical exemption that some Vermont parents use to sidestep the state’s vaccination mandates looks to be picking up steam in the House.
Hinesburg Rep. Bill Lippert, the Democratic chairman of the House Committee on Health Care, said Friday morning that “it’s more likely than not that we will move a bill to the floor this year.”
“In reviewing our committee members’ thoughts on the bill, and talking with a great number of our colleagues, there’s a desire if possible to bring some closure to the important issues that are involved here in the immunization debate,” Lippert said.
House leaders had previously been noncommittal about a philosophical exemption provision that the Senate last month inserted into a bill dealing with the reportable diseases registry. However, Lippert now says he anticipates a floor vote Tuesday.
Lippert says testimony from Commissioner of Health Harry Chen Thursday in favor of removing the philosophical exemption helped crystallized his views on the matter.
“I personally have been wrestling with this, and I have to say that in listening to Commissioner Chen, and in listening to and reading many of the emails and phone calls that I have received, I am increasingly persuaded we should move in that direction,” Lippert says.
Lawmakers last considered the revocation of the philosophical exemption in 2012, when the measure sailed through the Senate but fell flat in the House. Lippert says there are many new faces in the House this time around, and that a well-publicized measles outbreak linked to Disneyland has “has raised a new sense of awareness and concern” among House lawmakers “for the health of children who can’t be vaccinated, as well as those who are unvaccinated.”
Gov. Peter Shumlin doesn’t share his health commissioner’s urgency to end the philosophical exemption, which critics say has led to dangerously low vaccination rates in some Vermont schools.
Shumlin said Friday morning that he sees absolutely no merit in argument that vaccines pose a health risk to children.
“We also hope that parents will make the right decision and that government doesn’t have to override our decisions as parents about what we do with our kids,” Shumlin said. “So you can understand why this is a difficult choice for any governor and any legislature.”
At a press conference Wednesday, Shumlin said he didn’t think the House would take up the issue this year. Now that it appears they are, will he sign a bill if it makes it to his desk?
“I never speculate on whether or not I sign a bill,” he said.
