Gov. Peter Shumlin is no longer opposed to legislation that would eliminate an exemption for parents who don’t want to vaccinate their children.
If a bill came to his desk, Shumlin told reporters on Tuesday he would be “happy to look at it.”
In 2012, when the Legislature last considered the issue, the governor signaled support for vaccine choice advocates. Shortly afterward a bill that had passed in the Senate collapsed in the House.
“I do not believe that, in the end, the government should dictate to parents what inoculations their children should get,” Shumlin said at the time.
Instead of eliminating the exemption that year, the Legislature passed a law tightening reporting requirements for parents and schools.
Shumlin says the state needs to give the new law a chance to work, but his spokesman says “if the Legislature’s thinking on this issue has changed, he’s open to listening to the debate.”
The governor on Tuesday said vaccinations “make good common sense.”
“It’s good public policy, and I believe it’s irresponsible not to,” Shumlin said. “I also believe that the bill we passed a short time ago should be given an opportunity to work. If the Legislature feels strongly that they have a different view than they had before where the Senate supports removing the exemption and the House didn’t, I’m all ears, but I don’t expect that to be the case this session.”
Dr. Harry Chen, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health, told lawmakers in testimony on Wednesday that he supported the compromise bill in 2012, but he would prefer to see the elimination of the exemption.
“It’s clear to me from a public health perspective when asked I have to support removing it because it will increase vaccination rates, it will lower the risk of diseases coming to Vermont and infecting Vermonters, especially Vermonters who can’t be vaccinated,” Chen said.
The House Health Care Committee has taken testimony this week on sections of H.98 that address the Senate proposal to eliminate the philosophical exemption.
A public hearing will be held 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 11, in Room 11. Witnesses are asked to arrive at 5 p.m. Each witness has three minutes to speak. The committee will also accept written testimony.
