A bill that would make it easier for parents to exempt their children from school-required vaccinations tentatively passed the Texas House, 85-57, late Tuesday.
If House Bill 1586 by state Rep. Lacey Hull, R-Houston, becomes law, the state’s current exemption form could be downloaded from the internet, bypassing the need to contact the Texas Department of State Health Services directly and having a form mailed to an applicant’s home address.
“This bill promotes government efficiency, saves taxpayer dollars and helps parents enroll their children each school year on time so they can access their fundamental right to an education,” Hull told fellow lawmakers. She insisted the bill was merely about making a form more accessible to parents.
Democrats countered that the bill, introduced in the midst of the state and the nation’s worst measles outbreak since 2000, would further erode vaccination rates in schools, which have been falling since exemptions to childhood vaccine schedules have been made easier. As of Tuesday there were 717 cases of measles in Texas, according to the state’s health agency.
“Representative Hull, I know that you're aware that Texas is currently in the midst of an explosive measles outbreak, and with more than 700 cases, 90 hospitalizations, many of them in ICU, two deaths,” said state Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin. "Does this bill do anything to protect or stop the deadly measles outbreak?"
“This bill is about where a form is printed,” Hull responded, a refrain she would repeat when challenged on the bill’s impact.
Multiple Democrats attempted to amend the bill from the floor, including proposing provisions that would educate exemption requestors on the impact of not vaccinating. They all failed.
The bill does not change the requirement that the parents must have the form notarized before turning it in to the school for the child to be enrolled.
Data shows a consistent rise in interest in obtaining exemptions to vaccines since 2003, when then-state Sen. Craig Estes offered a measure that allowed Texans to claim a conscientious exemption in addition to established exemptions based on medical and religious reasons.
Since 2018, the requests to the Texas state health agency for an exemption form have doubled from 45,900 to more than 93,000 in 2024. All requests for exemptions are granted.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/01/texas-vaccine-exemption-form/.
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