•  Summary 
  •  
  •  Actions 
  •  
  •  Committee Votes 
  •  
  •  Floor Votes 
  •  
  •  Memo 
  •  
  •  Text 
  •  
  •  LFIN 
  •  
  •  Chamber Video/Transcript 

A08398 Summary:

BILL NOA08398
 
SAME ASNo Same As
 
SPONSORDinowitz
 
COSPNSR
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Add 2164-a, rpld 2165 sub 9, Pub Health L
 
Limits exemptions from immunization requirements by local governments and private entities to medical exemptions; repeals religious exemptions for certain post-secondary students.
Go to top

A08398 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A8398
 
SPONSOR: Dinowitz
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the public health law, in relation to limiting exemptions from immunizations; and to repeal certain provisions of such law relating to religious exemptions for certain post-secondary students   PURPOSE: This bill would prohibit organizations and entities from permitting any nonmedical exemption to an immunization requirement, make any such provision null and void and remove the religious exemption for post-sec- ondary students.   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1 amends the public health law to add a new section 2164-a to prohibit organizations and entities that have immunization requirements from permitting any non-medical exemption to such requirements and stip- ulate that any provision of a law, rule, regulation or policy that allows for a nonmedical exemption shall be deemed null and void. Section 2 repeals subdivision 9 of section 2165 of the public health law which is the religious exemption for certain post-secondary students. Section 3 is the severability clause. Section 4 sets effective date.   JUSTIFICATION: In 2019 the legislature passed, and the Governor signed into law, my bill that removed all non-medical exemptions from immunization require- ments for children who attend school (Chapter 35 of 2019). That act was adopted before the COVID-19 global pandemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans and millions worldwide. Now more than ever, vaccine requirements, particularly those that combat Covid (but also other diseases), must be made as robust as possible in all settings for our safety and the public health. As of September 2021, an estimated 80 million Americans adults remain unvaccinated against Covid. Just recently, Covid deaths in America surpassed those caused by the influenza outbreak in years surrounding 1920. Public health mandates, instituted to combat diseases such as these, have been upheld repeatedly throughout U.S. history. The majority opinion in the Supreme Court case Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905), where a Lutheran pastor in Cambridge, MA defied a city ordinance requir- ing smallpox vaccinations, stated: "the liberty secured by the Constitu- tion does not import an absolute right in each person to be at all times, and in all circumstances, wholly freed from restraint.   The Constitution rests upon the fundamental principle of the social compact ... that all shall be governed by certain laws for the protection, safe- ty, prosperity, and happiness of the people, and not for the profit, honor or private interests of any one man, family or class of men." I sponsored Chapter 35 of 2019 for the health and well being of our school children. It would stand to reason that other settings that adopt immunization requirements, including hospitals, workplaces, businesses, and local governments, should not be made porous by exceptions that are not medical in nature. This bill would help to ensure the "protection of the people" by removing certain exceptions.   LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: This is a new bill   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None.   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.
Go to top