Legislative Alert Center

The Immunization Partnership

 

Legislative Alert #8

 

July 6, 2011

 

Topic:  TIP Legislative Wrap Up

 

Another session of the Texas Legislature has come to a close and The Immunization Partnership (TIP) has some good news to report.  While the focus of the session may have been the state budget shortfall, smart advocacy and the hard work of hundreds of advocates from every corner of Texas resulted in some big wins for immunization in Texas!  

 

First and foremost, despite crippling cuts to many of the health and education programs across the state, funding for immunization programs was not reduced.  We applaud the 82^ndLegislature for recognizing the importance of immunizations as part of an overall preventive healthcare strategy and we thank all the policymakers who ensured that funding for critical immunization services remained intact. 

 

In addition to this important accomplishment, the 82^ndTexas Legislature took the following actions to improve access to immunizations, to save lives, and to help Texas save money now and for decades to come with smart immunization policies.    Immunization successes in 2011 included:

 

Meningitis Vaccination for College Students:  Texans were shocked and saddened by the untimely February 2011 death of Nicolis Williams - a student at Texas A&M University - to meningitis.  Despite their grief, Nicolis' family worked tirelessly with TIP and countless others to secure the passage of Senate Bill 1107 by Senator Wendy Davis (D - Fort Worth) and Representative Charlie Howard (R - Pearland).  The Jamie Schanbaum and Nicolis Williams Act will require college students to be vaccinated against meningitis prior to school entry.  Texas now leads the country as the first state to require universal vaccination for college admission.  While it is impossible to say how many lives will be saved by this new law, TIP joins all Texans in thanking the Williams family and the Schanbaum family for silently touching the lives of so many.  

 

Pertussis Education for New Parents:  The Texas Legislature also took decisive action in 2011 to halt alarming increases in Pertussis across Texas.  Under newly passed House Bill 3336 by Representative Garnet Coleman (D - Houston) and Senator Bob Deuell (R - Greenville), parents of newborn children will receive information about the dangers of Pertussis and about the importance of vaccinations against Pertussis for anyone coming into contact with newborn children.  HB 3336 is a cost-free measure to stem the rising tide of Pertussis in Texas.

 

Healthcare Worker Vaccination:   In order to protect the health of patients and the general public, TIP joined a broad array of health care professionals from the Texas Pediatric Society, the Texas Medical Association, the Texas Hospital Association and the Texas Nurses Association, who worked hard during the regular and special sessions, to ensure that all Texas healthcare facilities have a policy in place regarding healthcare worker vaccination.  Senate Bill 7 contained a provision that was carried by Senator Jane Nelson (R- Flower Mound) and Representative John Zerwas (R - Simonton) which will ensure that healthcare facilities will be able to determine the level of protection they will offer to their employees and their patients.

 

Exciting Progress on Immunization Registry Reform:  Efforts to improve immunization data advanced farther in 2011 than at any point in the past three sessions.  House Bill 574 by Representative Donna Howard (D - Austin), which aimed to improve data quality and increase the privacy of the data stored in ImmTrac, received strong bi-partisan support and was voted favorably from the Public Health Committee of the Texas House of Representatives.  Although the bill did not have enough votes to reach the Senate, TIP and its partners are already working to ensure that legislators will finish their work to improve the public health via a robust registry in 2013.

 

TIP thanks each of you for the phone calls, emails, visits, and testimonies that many of you undertook on behalf of good immunization policy.  Together we accomplished a great deal of positive change for immunizations at the Capitol.  But in many ways, our work has only just begun.  While we celebrate the successes, remember that TIP works hard year-round to make certain that policymakers never lose sight of the importance of immunizations.  In the months to come, TIP will meet with legislators to build an interim strategy, support local coalitions' efforts to improve local statutes and policies, and continue our efforts to be the strongest statewide immunization network in the United States. 

 

Thanks again to all our partners and stakeholders who helped along the way, making this a highly successful year for immunizations in Texas.  A special thanks to all the funders who have provided the resources that helped us educate and inform the public about long term solutions that will promote a healthier Texas. 

For questions or further information, please contact Nidhi M. Nakra, Director of Education and Advocacy at 512.219.4018 or via email at nnakra@immunizeUSA.org.

 

For more information about the 82nd legislative session or for information related to immunizations, please visit our website at www.immunizeUSA.org.

Click here for the full legislative alert #6

April 8, 2011

Topic: Status of Pending Immunization Legislation

 

Click here for the full legislative alert #3

Legislative Alert #2

April 6, 2011

Topic: House Bill 1816/Senate Bill 1107: Life-Saving Protection for College Students

 

 

Immediate Action Required: SUPPORT House Bill 1816 and Senate Bill 1107 in Texas

March 22, 2011

Topic: Immunization-Related Legislation

 

Immediate Action Required: Contact members of the House Public Health Committee and urge them to set a hearing date for House Bill 574

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