relating to preventative health care and public health, including
prohibited immunization and face-covering requirements and private
business or school closures.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 38.001, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (b-1) and adding Subsection (b-2) to
read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), each [Each]
student shall be fully immunized against the diseases listed in
Section 161.004, Health and Safety Code [diphtheria, rubeola,
rubella, mumps, tetanus, and poliomyelitis, except as provided by
Subsection (c)].
(b-1) Each year, the Department of State Health Services
shall prepare a list of the immunizations required [under this
section] for admission to public schools [and of any additional
immunizations the department recommends for school-age children].
The department shall prepare the list in English and Spanish and
make the list available in a manner that permits a school district
to easily post the list on the district's Internet website as
required by Section 38.019.
(b-2)An elementary or secondary school may not require a
student, as a condition of the student's admission to or continued
enrollment in the school, to be vaccinated against the 2019 novel
coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
SECTION 2. Section 38.019(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A school district that maintains an Internet website
shall post prominently on the website:
(1) a list, in English and Spanish, of:
(A) the immunizations required for admission to
public school in accordance with [by rules of the Department of
State Health Services adopted under] Section 38.001; and
(B) [any immunizations or vaccines recommended
for public school students by the Department of State Health
Services; and
[(C)] health clinics in the district that offer
the influenza vaccine, to the extent those clinics are known to the
district; and
(2) a link to the page on the Department of State
Health Services Internet website that provides [where a person may
obtain] information relating to the procedures for claiming an
exemption from the immunization requirements of Section 38.001.
SECTION 3. Subchapter Z, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 51.91921 to read as follows:
Sec.51.91921.PROHIBITION ON PRIVATE OR INDEPENDENT
INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION MANDATING COVID-19 VACCINATION
FOR STUDENTS. (a) In this section:
(1)"COVID-19" means the 2019 novel coronavirus
disease, including any variant.
(2)"Private or independent institution of higher
education" has the meaning assigned by Section 61.003.
(b)A private or independent institution of higher
education may not require a student, as a condition of the student's
admission to or continued enrollment in the institution, to be
vaccinated against COVID-19.
SECTION 4. Section 51.933, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b) and (b-1) and adding Subsection (b-2) to
read as follows:
(b) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission may require a student at an institution of
higher education who is pursuing a course of study in a human or
animal health profession to be immunized [immunizations] against
the diseases listed in Subsection (a) and against hepatitis B,
measles, rabies, and varicella, as applicable. The [additional
diseases for students at any institution of higher education who
are pursuing a course of study in a human or animal health
profession, and the] executive commissioner may require those
immunizations for any students in times of an emergency or epidemic
Statutes affected: Introduced: Education Code 38.001, Education Code 38.019, Education Code 51.933, Health and Safety Code 81.023, Health and Safety Code 161.004 (Education Code 38, Education Code 51, Health and Safety Code 161, Health and Safety Code 81) Senate Committee Report: Education Code 38.001, Education Code 38.019, Education Code 51.933, Health and Safety - Code 81.023 (Education Code 38, Education Code 51, Health and Safety - Code 81, Health and Safety Code 161, Health and Safety Code 81) Engrossed: Education Code 38.001, Education Code 38.019, Education Code 51.933, Health and Safety Code 81.023, Health and Safety Code 161.004 (Education Code 38, Education Code 51, Health and Safety - Code 81, Health and Safety Code 161, Health and Safety Code 81)