The House Health Care Committee announced plans for a public hearing on a bill that would remove the philosophical exemption to Vermont's mandate that all school-children be vaccinated.
The bill, H.98, would remove the philosophical exemption while leaving the state's religious and medical exemptions in place. Under current law, the vast majority of unvaccinated schoolchildren in Vermont aren't vaccinated because their parents have claimed the philosophical exemption.
The public hearing on the bill is scheduled for Monday, May 11 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Room 11 at the Statehouse. Members of the public will be allowed to sign up to speak beginning at 5 p.m., according to a release announcing the hearing.
The debate over the removal of the exemption has become one of the major issues of the 2015 legislative session, with supporters of the exemption bringing in Robert F. Kennedy to testify on their behalf, the state's mayor's weighing in against the exemption, and the teacher's union stepping in against it as well.
The Vermont Senate passed the bill already, and it's now being considered by House lawmakers. Gov. Peter Shumlin has previously voiced opposition to the legislation, but Health Commissioner Harry Chen reportedly told lawmakers this weekthat Shumlin is now "neutral" on the subject.
