F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
HB 305 2023
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to protection of medical freedom;
3 amending s. 381.003, F.S.; prohibiting the Department
4 of Health from requiring enrollment in the state's
5 immunization registry or otherwise requiring persons
6 to submit to immunization tracking; prohibiting the
7 department from including a person's immunization
8 records in any interstate or federal immunization
9 tracking system or otherwise giving an entity access
10 to a person's immunization records without first
11 obtaining written informed consent from the person or
12 person's parent or guardian, as applicable; amending
13 s. 381.00316, F.S.; prohibiting business and
14 governmental entities from requiring individuals to
15 provide proof of vaccination or postinfection recovery
16 from any disease to gain access to, entry upon, or
17 service from such entities; prohibiting educational
18 institutions from requiring students or residents to
19 provide proof of vaccination or postinfection recovery
20 from any disease for attendance or enrollment or to
21 gain access to, entry upon, or service from such
22 entities; providing an exception; prohibiting health
23 care providers from making the provision of any health
24 care service contingent upon patients' vaccination or
25 postinfection recovery from any disease; creating s.
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26 448.077, F.S.; defining terms; prohibiting employers
27 from refusing employment to, or discharging,
28 disciplining, demoting, or otherwise discriminating
29 against, an individual solely on the basis of
30 vaccination or immunity status; creating a right of
31 action for aggrieved individuals; providing for
32 relief; creating ss. 626.9708, 627.6441, 627.6614, and
33 641.31078, F.S.; defining the term "vaccination or
34 immunity status"; specifying prohibited discriminatory
35 practices in the provision of life and disability
36 insurance policies, health insurance policies, group
37 health insurance policies, and health maintenance
38 contracts, respectively; providing construction;
39 amending s. 760.01, F.S.; revising the purposes of the
40 Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992 to include
41 discrimination protection for vaccination or immunity
42 status; reordering and amending s. 760.02, F.S.;
43 defining the term "vaccination or immunity status";
44 amending s. 760.05, F.S.; revising the functions of
45 the Florida Commission on Human Relations to conform
46 to changes made by the act; amending s. 760.07, F.S.;
47 revising provisions regarding remedies for unlawful
48 discrimination to conform to changes made by the act;
49 amending s. 760.08, F.S.; prohibiting places of public
50 accommodation from discriminating on the basis of
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51 vaccination or immunity status; amending s. 760.10,
52 F.S.; prohibiting employers from engaging in specified
53 discriminatory employment practices on the basis of a
54 person's vaccination or immunity status; providing an
55 exception; amending s. 760.22, F.S.; defining the term
56 "vaccination or immunity status"; amending ss. 760.23,
57 760.24, 760.25, and 760.26, F.S.; prohibiting
58 discrimination on the basis of a person's vaccination
59 or immunity status in the sale or rental of housing,
60 the provision of brokerage services, the financing of
61 housing or residential real estate transactions, and
62 land use decisions or permitting of development,
63 respectively; amending s. 760.29, F.S.; revising an
64 exemption from the Fair Housing Act regarding the
65 appraisal of real property to conform to changes made
66 by the act; amending s. 760.60, F.S.; prohibiting
67 certain clubs from engaging in specified
68 discriminatory practices on the basis of a person's
69 vaccination or immunity status; amending s. 1003.22,
70 F.S.; prohibiting the department from requiring
71 children to receive immunizations approved only for
72 emergency use as a school-entry requirement; providing
73 an effective date.
74
75 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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76
77 Section 1. Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section
78 381.003, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
79 381.003 Communicable disease and AIDS prevention and
80 control.—
81 (1) The department shall conduct a communicable disease
82 prevention and control program as part of fulfilling its public
83 health mission. A communicable disease is any disease caused by
84 transmission of a specific infectious agent, or its toxic
85 products, from an infected person, an infected animal, or the
86 environment to a susceptible host, either directly or
87 indirectly. The communicable disease program must include, but
88 need not be limited to:
89 (e) Programs for the prevention and control of vaccine -
90 preventable diseases, including programs to immunize school
91 children as required by s. 1003.22(3)-(11) and the development
92 of an automated, electronic, and centralized database an d
93 registry of immunizations. The department may not require
94 enrollment in the immunization registry or otherwise require
95 persons to submit to any form of immunization tracking. The
96 department shall ensure that all children in this state are
97 immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases. The immunization
98 registry must allow the department to enhance current
99 immunization activities for the purpose of improving the
100 immunization of all children in this state.
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101 1. Except as provided in subparagraph 2., the dep artment
102 shall include all children born in this state in the
103 immunization registry by using the birth records from the Office
104 of Vital Statistics. The department shall add other children to
105 the registry as immunization services are provided.
106 2. The parent or guardian of a child may refuse to have
107 the child included in the immunization registry by signing a
108 form obtained from the department, or from the health care
109 practitioner or entity that provides the immunization, which
110 indicates that the parent or guardian does not wish to have the
111 child included in the immunization registry. Each consent to
112 treatment form provided by a health care practitioner or by an
113 entity that administers vaccinations or causes vaccinations to
114 be administered to children from birth through 17 years of age
115 must contain a notice stating that the parent or guardian of a
116 child may refuse to have his or her child included in the
117 immunization registry. The parent or guardian may either submit
118 the opt-out form directly to the department or must provide it
119 such opt-out form to the health care practitioner or entity upon
120 administration of the vaccination. Such health care practitioner
121 or entity shall submit the form to the department. If a parent
122 or guardian has refused to have his or her child included in the
123 immunization registry, A parent or guardian may submit the opt-
124 out form directly to the department. any records or identifying
125 information pertaining to the child must shall be removed from
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126 the registry, if the parent or guardian has refused to have his
127 or her child included in the immunization registry.
128 3. A college or university student, from 18 years of age
129 to 23 years of age, who obtains a vaccination from a college or
130 university student health center or clinic in this the state may
131 refuse to be included in the immunization registry by signing a
132 form obtained from the department, health center, or clinic
133 which indicates that the student does not wish to be included in
134 the immunization registry. The student may either submit the
135 form directly to the department or must provide it such opt-out
136 form to the health center or clinic upon administration of the
137 immunization vaccination. Such health center or clinic shall
138 submit the form to the department. If the student has refused to
139 be included in the immunization registry, A student may submit
140 the opt-out form directly to the department. any records or
141 identifying information pertaining to the student must shall be
142 removed from the registry if the student has refused to be
143 included in the immunization registry.
144 4. The immunization registry shall allow for immunization
145 records to be electronically available to entities that are
146 required by law to have such records, including, but not limited
147 to, schools and licensed child care facilities. However, the
148 department may not include a person's immunization records in
149 any interstate or federal immunization tracking system or
150 otherwise allow an entity not required by law to have such
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151 records without first obtaining written informed consent from
152 the person or the person's parent or guardian, if the person is
153 a minor, to release the immunization records for such purpose.
154 5. A health care practitioner licensed under chapter 458,
155 chapter 459, or chapter 464 in this state who administers
156 vaccinations or causes vaccinations to be administered to
157 children from birth through 17 years of age is required to
158 report vaccination data to the immunization registry, unless a
159 parent or guardian of a child has refused to have the child
160 included in the immunization registry by meeting the
161 requirements of subparagraph 2. A health care practitioner
162 licensed under chapter 458, chapter 459, or chapter 464 in this
163 state who administers vaccinations or causes vaccinations to be
164 administered to college or university students from 18 years of
165 age to 23 years of age at a college or university student health
166 center or clinic is required to report vaccination data to the
167 immunization registry, unless the student has refused to be
168 included in the immunization registry by meeting the
169 requirements of subparagraph 3. Vaccination data for students in
170 other age ranges may be submitted to the immunization registry
171 only if the student consents to inclusion in the immunization
172 registry. The upload of data from existing automated systems is
173 an acceptable method for updating immunization information in
174 the immunization registry. The information in the immunization
175 registry must include the child's name, date of birth, address,
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176 and any other unique identifier necessary to correctly identify
177 the child; the immunization record, including the date, type of
178 administered vaccine, and vaccine lot number; and the presence
179 or absence of any adverse reaction or contraindication related
180 to the immunization. Information received by the department for
181 the immunization registry retains its status as confidential
182 medical information and the department must maintain the
183 confidentiality of that information as otherwise required by
184 law. A health care practitioner or other agency that obtains
185 information from the immunization registry must maintain the
186 confidentiality of any medical records in accordance with s.
187 456.057 or as otherwise required by law.
188 Section 2. Section 381.00316, Florida Statutes, is amended
189 to read:
190 381.00316 COVID-19 Vaccine documentation.—
191 (1) A business entity, as defined in s. 768.38 to include
192 any business operating in this state, may not require patrons or
193 customers to provide any documentation certifying COVID-19
194 vaccination or postinfection recovery from any disease to gain
195 access to, entry upon, or service from the business operations
196 in this state. This subsection does not otherwise restrict
197 businesses from instituting screening protocols consistent with
198 authoritative or controlling government-issued guidance to
199 protect public health.
200 (2) A governmental entity as defined in s. 768.38 may not
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201 require persons to provide any documentation certifying COVID-19
202 vaccination or postinfection recovery from any disease to gain
203 access to, entry upon, or service from the governmental enti ty's
204 operations in this state. This subsection does not otherwise
205 restrict governmental entities from instituting screening
206 protocols consistent with authoritative or controlling
207 government-issued guidance to protect public health.