Deeds asks Senate to take another stab at vaccine exemptions
By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV
Two weeks ago, Sen. Laura Chapman, R-Ohio, who is Chair of the Senate Health Committee, watched from the back row as a bipartisan coalition of delegates joined together to defeat a vaccine exemption bill. It emerged from her committee earlier this session, at the request of Gov. Patrick Morrisey.
With its defeat, the vaccine exemption debate seemed to be over for this session. Until Monday afternoon.
Sen. Vince Deeds, R-Greenbrier, moved to reconsider the Health Committee’s earlier action on HB 2776, a bill the purpose of which is to “require the Secretary of the Department of Health to propose legislative rules to include alpha-gal syndrome on the list of diseases that shall be required to be reported to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).”
Senate Health had earlier moved to report that bill to the floor for a vote. But Deeds moved that they take up a different version of the bill. As explained by committee counsel, the bill would now also revise mandatory vaccination requirements for school children.
Specifically, the revised bill would provide for a religious exemption to vaccinations and reform the medical exemption option, as previously seen in SB 460.
Deeds voted against the bill earlier this session which had the same provisions expanding vaccine exemptions. In a floor speech earlier in the day, Deeds said to his fellow senators, “Yesterday, I was at church. Everyone asked me, ‘What have we accomplished here in this chamber?’ I really didn’t have an answer. It really bothered me.”
He continued, “I need to be able to go home and look at people in my church, my sons, my granddaughter, and say, ‘Hey, we’ve accomplished something.” A few hours later, he moved to resurrect the vaccine exemption bill.
Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, asked counsel of the new added language in the bill, “There’s nothing…that related in any way to alpha-gal syndrome?”
“There’s nothing related to alpha-gal, but it does relate to the state public health system,” she responded.
Garcia asked if Senate rules required for an amendment to a bill be directly related to the bill itself? He also asked if he was correct that the state constitution required that a bill address a single topic?
Counsel responded yes, and said both topics in the proposed amendment relate to public health.
Garcia called a point of order to Chair Chapman, saying the amendment is not directly related to the bill and the bill also violates the constitution’s “double object” rule.
Chapman immediately ruled the amendment as germane. The Senate parliamentarian, who is normally responsible for providing rulings on Senate rules, was not present in the meeting or called upon by any senators.
One amendment was then adopted by the committee. Sen. Chris Rose, R-Monongalia, asked to amend the bill to allow any student receiving a vaccination exemption to fully participate in sports.
“Yeah, I’m not exactly sure what we’re doing here,” said Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha. “The measles is claiming its third victim. These are preventable childhood illnesses.”
“Our legislature is dead set on putting our kids in harm’s way,” he concluded. “It’s coming here, and it’s coming in a bad way.”
Despite Takubo’s concerns as the body’s only practicing physician, the committee adopted Rose’s amendment. Deeds then moved to report the bill to the full Senate. The motion passed.
HB 2776 will go before the full Senate and then would have to go back to the House in order to become law.
Stay tuned to RealWV for updates.
