Each week, AIM staff compile new and moving legislation in jurisdictions all over the country.
This legislative summary is for the week of June 10, 2022.
Please Note: AIM is striving to monitor fast-moving state legislative developments. The information included in this summary may not be comprehensive and is subject to change. Please consult the linked jurisdiction websites for the most up-to-date information on each bill. If you are aware of missing information, please notify us. For individualized support, contact AIM Chief Policy and Government Relations Officer Brent Ewig. AIM would like to thank ASTHO for the ongoing partnership and support that makes these summaries possible and invite you to check out AIM’s Policy Toolkit for more legislative resources.
Enacted Legislation
COVID-19, Mandates, and Exemptions
- AZ H 2086 was enacted on 05/20/22. This bill prohibits HPV and COVID-19 vaccines from being required for school attendance. It also requires that immunization be added as a rule to existing legislation before the immunization may be required for in-person school attendance.
- NH H 1608 was enacted on 05/20/22. This bill requires the department of health and human services to conduct a public information campaign to inform individuals that data was collected on COVID-19 vaccinations without the opportunity to opt-out of the state’s registry and to inform them of the opportunity to opt-out.
Gaining Media Attention
- The child care vaccine bill was passed in Iowa Senate on May 24. F. 2298 aims to prohibit the requirement of the COVID-19 vaccine in child care centers or schools before July 1, 2029. The anti-vaccination advocacy organization National Vaccination Information Center (NVIC) is asking other anti-vaccine advocates to pressure Governor Kim Reynolds to sign the bill into law.
- Arizona formally bans the COVID-19 vaccine from school requirements as the Senate signed into law B. 2086, which bans all schools from ever requiring a COVID-19 vaccine, including future vaccines, for students. Social media commenters generally supported the move, with multiple commenters saying the vaccines didn’t work and that we shouldn’t have had to cater to the few people vaccines benefit.
- Louisiana’s governor reverses the state’s student vaccine mandate, so the Louisiana Department of Health will not be making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory in schools for the upcoming school year. This is a significant change from last week when the Senate failed to repeal C.R. 3, which would have kept the requirement in place. The Louisiana Department of Health will still strongly recommend all eligible children be vaccinated against COVID-19. Many anti-vaccination groups celebrated this decision as a win since they pressured government officials to reconsider the mandates.
- The New York Police Department sources told the New York Post in a story published on May 21 that the agency has paused the firing of the approximately 4,650 employees who remain unvaccinated. The sources told the Post that the agency has an unofficial rule not to fire any more unvaccinated officers for now. (NYPD employees had until October 29 to get the vaccine.) However, a spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams’ administration denied that there had been a pause in firings, saying that the mandate remains in effect and that terminations will continue on a rolling basis.