Bill Text: NY A02371 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to exemptions from vaccinations due to religious beliefs; and repeals certain provisions relating to exemption from vaccination due to religious beliefs.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 19-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-06-13 - signed chap.35 [A02371 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A02371-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2371--A 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 22, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ, MOSLEY, BURKE, MAGNARELLI, TAYLOR, FAHY, ARROYO, COOK, GLICK, JAFFEE, WALLACE, STECK, ZEBROWSKI, JACOB- SON, QUART, REYES, PAULIN, L. ROSENTHAL, SIMOTAS -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. RICHARDSON -- read once and referred 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: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 9 of section 2164 of the public health law is 2 REPEALED. 3 § 2. Subdivisions 6 and 7 of section 2164 of the public health law, as 4 amended by chapter 401 of the laws of 2015, are amended to read as 5 follows: 6 6. In the event that a person in parental relation to a child makes 7 application for admission of such child to a school or has a child 8 attending school and there exists no certificate or other acceptable 9 evidence of the child's immunization against poliomyelitis, mumps, 10 measles, diphtheria, rubella, varicella, hepatitis B, pertussis, teta- 11 nus, and, where applicable, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), menin- 12 gococcal disease, and pneumococcal disease, the principal, teacher, 13 owner or person in charge of the school shall inform such person of the 14 necessity to have the child immunized, that such immunization may be 15 administered by any health practitioner, or that the child may be immun- 16 ized without charge by the health officer in the county where the child 17 resides, if such person executes a consent therefor. In the event that 18 such person does not wish to select a health practitioner to administer EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00724-05-9A. 2371--A 2 1 the immunization, he or she shall be provided with a form which shall 2 give notice that as a prerequisite to processing the application for 3 admission to, or for continued attendance at, the school such person 4 shall state a valid reason for withholding consent or consent shall be 5 given for immunization to be administered by a health officer in the 6 public employ, or by a school physician or nurse. The form shall provide 7 for the execution of a consent by such person and it shall also state 8 that such person need not execute such consent if subdivision eight [or9nine] of this section [apply] applies to such child. 10 7. (a) No principal, teacher, owner or person in charge of a school 11 shall permit any child to be admitted to such school, or to attend such 12 school, in excess of fourteen days, without the certificate provided for 13 in subdivision five of this section or some other acceptable evidence of 14 the child's immunization against poliomyelitis, mumps, measles, diphthe- 15 ria, rubella, varicella, hepatitis B, pertussis, tetanus, and, where 16 applicable, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), meningococcal disease, 17 and pneumococcal disease; provided, however, such fourteen day period 18 may be extended to not more than thirty days for an individual student 19 by the appropriate principal, teacher, owner or other person in charge 20 where such student is transferring from out-of-state or from another 21 country and can show a good faith effort to get the necessary certif- 22 ication or other evidence of immunization or where the parent, guardian, 23 or any other person in parental relationship to such child can demon- 24 strate that a child has received at least the first dose in each immuni- 25 zation series required by this section and has age appropriate appoint- 26 ments scheduled to complete the immunization series according to the 27 Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices Recommended Immunization 28 Schedules for Persons Aged 0 through 18 Years. 29 (b) A parent, a guardian or any other person in parental relationship 30 to a child denied school entrance or attendance may appeal by petition 31 to the commissioner of education in accordance with the provisions of 32 section three hundred ten of the education law. 33 § 3. Paragraph (f) of subdivision 5 of section 2168 of the public 34 health law, as amended by chapter 154 of the laws of 2013, is amended to 35 read as follows: 36 (f) The immunization status of children exempt from immunizations 37 pursuant to subdivision eight of section twenty-one hundred sixty-four 38 of this title [and a parent claiming exemption pursuant to subdivision39nine of section twenty-one hundred sixty-four of this title] shall be 40 reported by the health care provider. 41 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amend- 42 ments to subdivision 7 of section 2164 of the public health law made by 43 section two of this act shall expire and be deemed repealed June 30, 44 2020.