Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

A First Look at Fresno State’s Quarterback Battle

5 hours ago

Israeli Columnist Alleges Ethnic Cleansing Plan in Gaza

6 hours ago

Tesla to Roll out Bay Area Robotaxis With Safety Drivers, Report Says

7 hours ago

Thailand and Cambodia Exchange Heavy Artillery Fire as Border Battle Expands

8 hours ago

California Cannot Require Background Checks to Buy Ammunition, US Appeals Court Rules

1 day ago

TikTok Will Go Dark in US Without Chinese Approval of Sale Deal, Lutnick Says

1 day ago

Fresno County Authorities Still Searching for Missing Mother and Infant

1 day ago
Assembly Panel Advances Bill on Vaccination Exemptions
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
June 20, 2019

Share

SACRAMENTO — A California Assembly committee on Thursday advanced a bill to tighten the state’s rules on vaccination exemptions, but there remains disagreement about the measure among Assembly Democrats.
Some members of the Assembly Health Committee say the bill will help protect children amid a surge in measles cases in the United States. Sen. Richard Pan, the bill’s author, says California can’t allow “a handful of unscrupulous physicians to put our children in danger.”
Assemblywoman Autumn Burke said she thinks the bill takes away choices for families. She did not support it.
Hundreds filed through the committee hearing at the state Capitol to speak against the legislation. The bill would require that state public health officials review exemptions granted by doctors who issue more than five a year.

The hearing comes just days after the bill’s author announced major changes designed to win support from Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The hearing comes just days after Pan announced major changes designed to win support from Gov. Gavin Newsom. The Democratic governor was concerned with requiring state health officials to sign off on every exemption, as the measure had initially required.
Now, the public health department would only scrutinize doctors who grant more than five medical exemptions in a year and schools with vaccination rates of less than 95%.
“I support Senate Bill 276 because I believe that it will keep our children healthy and protect them from public health risks,” said Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula of Fresno. “I appreciate the amendments that Sen. Pan, a pediatrician and the bill’s author, has made.
“As a medical professional myself, I believe the amended bill protects the privacy between a patient and physician while, at the same time, scrutinizes doctors who are excessively writing medical exemptions that could potentially endanger the public’s health.”

Newsom Says He Would Sign the Bill

Officials say that threshold is needed to provide “community immunity,” which protects those who haven’t been vaccinated for medical reasons or because they are too young.
The measure, which Newsom said he will sign if it reaches his desk, comes as measles cases have reached a 25-year high in the U.S. Lawmakers in other states also have been considering changes to confront the increase.
Maine eliminated religious and philosophical exemptions, while New York lawmakers ended a religious exemption. Washington state halted most exemptions for the measles vaccine, though legislators in Oregon defeated a measure that would have made it harder for families to opt out.
The California legislation is aimed at stopping some doctors from selling immunization exemptions, which supporters of the bill said has become a growing problem since the state ended non-medical exemptions in 2016.
New figures show the rate of kindergartners with permanent medical exemptions has quadrupled since California banned personal exemptions, and more than 100 schools have medical exemption rates exceeding 10%.

Doctors Couldn’t Charge for Exemptions

Among provisions in the revised California legislation:

  • Doctors can’t charge for filling out a medical exemption form or conducting a related medical examination. They would have to sign the forms under penalty of perjury.
  • California Department of Public Health doctors or registered nurses would review exemptions issued by local medical providers who issue five or more a year or at schools with high exemption rates.
  • The state public health officer, who is a doctor, could revoke any that don’t meet national guidelines.
  • Parents could appeal to an independent panel of doctors.
  • Officials could consider families’ medical histories in allowing exemptions in addition to immunization guidelines issued by federal medical authorities.

Supporters said the legislation would permit exemptions for the less than 1% of students who should avoid vaccinations because they would have a severe allergic reaction or have impaired immunity from a liver problem, HIV, chemotherapy, or other conditions.
 

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Tulare Officer Injured in Crash While Trying to Save Unresponsive Infant. Child Dies at Hospital

DON'T MISS

PBS Has a Future by Leaving the Past Behind: Opinion

DON'T MISS

Fresno Council Candidate Rassamni Says City Is Investigating Him Amid Allegations by Arias

DON'T MISS

Fresno First Responders Talk Person Down off Parking Garage Ledge

DON'T MISS

Oregon Schools Face Federal Probe Over Transgender Athletes

DON'T MISS

US Judge Reaffirms Nationwide Injunction Blocking Trump Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship

DON'T MISS

White House Will Release $5.5 Billion for Schools, After Surprise Delay

DON'T MISS

Kern County Fire Issues Evacuation Warnings for Pearl Fire Near Lake Isabella

DON'T MISS

Gaza Running out of Specialized Food to Save Malnourished Children

DON'T MISS

New Madera Bypass Project Aims to Ease Traffic on Highway 41 Near Tesoro Viejo

UP NEXT

Tesla to Roll out Bay Area Robotaxis With Safety Drivers, Report Says

UP NEXT

California Political Lobbying Firm Agrees to Settle Federal Fraud Allegations

UP NEXT

California Cannot Require Background Checks to Buy Ammunition, US Appeals Court Rules

UP NEXT

Video-Sharing App Vine Is Returning ‘in AI Form’, Musk Says

UP NEXT

CBS News Taps Tanya Simon as New Boss of ’60 Minutes’ After Trump Lawsuit

UP NEXT

US Republicans Continue Push to Override California Animal Welfare Law

UP NEXT

Doctor Pleads Guilty to Supplying Ketamine to ‘Friends’ Star Matthew Perry

UP NEXT

US Olympic Officials Bar Transgender Women From Women’s Competitions

UP NEXT

Trump Admin Releases After-School Grant Money, but There’s a Catch

UP NEXT

US Appeals Court Will Not Lift Limits on Associated Press Access to White House

Fresno First Responders Talk Person Down off Parking Garage Ledge

1 hour ago

Oregon Schools Face Federal Probe Over Transgender Athletes

2 hours ago

US Judge Reaffirms Nationwide Injunction Blocking Trump Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship

2 hours ago

White House Will Release $5.5 Billion for Schools, After Surprise Delay

3 hours ago

Kern County Fire Issues Evacuation Warnings for Pearl Fire Near Lake Isabella

4 hours ago

Gaza Running out of Specialized Food to Save Malnourished Children

4 hours ago

New Madera Bypass Project Aims to Ease Traffic on Highway 41 Near Tesoro Viejo

5 hours ago

Key Player in California’s Water Wars Embraces Controversial Newsom Plan

5 hours ago

A First Look at Fresno State’s Quarterback Battle

5 hours ago

Israeli Columnist Alleges Ethnic Cleansing Plan in Gaza

6 hours ago

Tulare Officer Injured in Crash While Trying to Save Unresponsive Infant. Child Dies at Hospital

A Tulare police officer was injured in a traffic collision Friday while responding to a medical emergency involving an unresponsive infant, ...

1 minute ago

1 minute ago

Tulare Officer Injured in Crash While Trying to Save Unresponsive Infant. Child Dies at Hospital

Signs supporting NPR outside its headquarters in Washington on March 26, 2025. The Trump administration has accused NPR and PBS of using public funds to produce biased coverage and “left-wing propaganda.” (Eric Lee/The New York Times)
54 minutes ago

PBS Has a Future by Leaving the Past Behind: Opinion

AJ Rassamni and Miguel Arias blackstone
1 hour ago

Fresno Council Candidate Rassamni Says City Is Investigating Him Amid Allegations by Arias

Fresno first responders spent over two hours safely rescuing a person in crisis from the edge of a downtown parking garage Friday, July 25, 2025,morning. (Fresno FD)
1 hour ago

Fresno First Responders Talk Person Down off Parking Garage Ledge

United States Department of Education logo and U.S. flag are seen in this illustration taken April 23, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

Oregon Schools Face Federal Probe Over Transgender Athletes

President Donald Trump speaks to the media, after the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to the power of federal judges by restricting their ability to grant broad legal relief in cases as the justices acted in a legal fight over President Donald Trump's bid to limit birthright citizenship, in the Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington D.C., June 27, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

US Judge Reaffirms Nationwide Injunction Blocking Trump Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship

Students head to the buses at the end of the day at a high school in Cedar Hill, Mo., on Sept. 14, 2022. The White House will release $5.5 billion in frozen education funds, administration officials announced on Friday, July 25, bringing an end to a chaotic saga of the administration’s making, which had sent school districts scrambling with weeks to go before the school year. (Whitney Curtis/The New York Times)
3 hours ago

White House Will Release $5.5 Billion for Schools, After Surprise Delay

Kern County fire officials have issued evacuation warnings for two zones near Lake Isabella as the Pearl Fire threatens the area. (Kern County FD)
4 hours ago

Kern County Fire Issues Evacuation Warnings for Pearl Fire Near Lake Isabella

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend