The House vote to eliminate a philosophical exemption to school entry vaccines left a bad taste in the mouths of some lawmakers, but efforts to reconsider that decision failed Wednesday.
Rep. Anne Donahue, who offered a proposal Tuesday that many viewed as a compromise — but which failed by just two votes — made the motion for reconsideration.
The way the legislation was brought to the floor, as a proposed amendment from the Senate, limited the time available for the House to consider its options.
The legislation passed by the House on Tuesday would eliminate the philosophical exemption on July 1, 2016.
Donahue said she wanted the opportunity, not to preserve the philosophical exemption, but to offer an amendment to give families covered by the exemption as of January a “four-year soft landing” to complete the required vaccine schedule. Donahue’s motion failed 114-28.
Those opposed to her motion pointed out that the House-passed delay would offer families time to make arrangements, and offers lawmakers the chance to consider grandfathering families covered by the exemption.
There are 3,479 children in Vermont covered by philosophical exemptions, which represents 3.8 percent of all students in the state, according to the most recent Department of Health figures.
Vermont lags behind the rest of the U.S. and New England when it comes to vaccinations — with the exception of Maine in the case of some vaccines — according to the those same figures.
The Senate is expected to concur with the House-passed legislation removing the philosophical exemption before it goes to the governor’s desk.
Gov. Peter Shumlin said Wednesday that he’s “inclined” to sign the bill, but will review it once it’s sent to his office before making a final decision.
“As you know, there are strongly held and strongly expressed feelings on both sides of this issue, and as you know, I’ve been sympathetic to both. I think Vermonters should vaccinate their kids,” Shumlin told reporters.
“I’m discouraged that the bill we passed isn’t having the effect of leading to a higher vaccination rate, and I’m sympathetic to the notion that we’ve got to move more quickly so I’ll review the bill, as I do with all bills. I’m inclined to sign it, but I’ll read it when it comes over to me,” he added.
Shumlin said repealing the exemption is not the route he would have preferred, adding that if an alternative proposal Donahue offered Tuesday were on the table when the Legislature had the same debate two years ago, it might have avoided the continued decline in vaccination rates.
Donahue’s alternative would have eliminated both the philosophical and religious exemption, and create an “alternative health care practices” exemption with steeper hurdles, including a sworn affidavit and in-person consultation with a physician.
It was intended to weed out parents who are not acting on a deeply held conviction, Donahue said, pointing to testimony from Health Department officials who said barriers to exemptions are effective in increasing immunization rates.
“I wish we’d done that then, but we are where we are and our rates are not going down,” Shumlin said.
