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SB 1377: The Hearing, the Challenges
and the Path Forward

✅ SB 1377 (Jones) – Vaccine Medical Exemption Protections ( [link removed] [[link removed]] ) was heard in the Senate Health Committee yesterday.

For the past six months, A Voice for Choice Advocacy has been actively engaged in behind-the-scenes discussions with state legislators on issues related to vaccine medical exemptions and the lack of religious exemptions. This has included several conversations with Senator Ben Allen through a trusted ally to identify realistic pathways for meaningful change to the current statute.

AVFCA supported the concept behind SB 1377. However, from the outset, we recognized that the bill faced significant challenges. Introducing a bill like this with a Republican author, without early and visible support from Democrats, greatly diminished its chances. While it was announced during the Senate Health Committee hearing that Senators Cortese and Allen would come on as co-authors, this came too late in the process.

So, SB 1377 did not advance out of committee, failing on a 3 Ayes and 8 Noes/NVR vote.

The hearing shone a spotlight on additional strategic deficiencies. The bill moved forward without the level of early legislative alignment typically needed for a complex and sensitive issue. Chair Weber noted that this topic may have benefited from an informational hearing first, allowing for a more comprehensive discussion of the current law and its real-world impacts.

Testimony was provided by Amy Bohn of PERK and Dr. Richard Fox. Notably absent were parents whose children have had medical exemptions revoked or physicians who have experienced the review and revocation process firsthand. AVFCA has worked with hundreds of these families and physicians over the past eleven years and has developed a deep, practical understanding of how the medical exemption system operates, including through our ongoing titer testing lawsuit.

PERK (Protection of the Educational Rights of Kids) formally announced its sponsorship of SB 1377 following the hearing. IPA (Informed Policy Advocates), which was formed after the departure of PERK’s prior board and staff, has also been involved. While many organizations are working in this space, effective legislative efforts benefit from coordination, timing, and established working relationships within the Capitol.

AVFCA made efforts to engage on this bill and offered our expertise based on years of direct experience. While we were not brought into the process in a meaningful way, we remain committed to contributing where our experience can be most effective.

While this issue is critically important, the strategy to move legislation forward must be equally strong. AVFCA remains committed to advancing real solutions. We will continue to engage with legislative offices on both sides to ensure they understand the nuances of current law and the real impact on families.

We also believe that meaningful progress to address issues with the medical exemption process is likely to come through the courts. Our titer testing lawsuit directly addresses these issues:
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If you found this information helpful and appreciate the work A Voice for Choice Advocacy is doing, please support us by making a donation today.

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Together we can make change happen!

C
Christina Hildebrand
President/Founder
A Voice for Choice Advocacy, Inc.
[email protected] [[email protected]]
www.AVoiceForChoiceAdvocacy.org [[link removed]]
www.avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org [www.avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org]
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