A Los Angeles Times special report: There's a hidden battle over a new state vaccine law.
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California created some of the toughest inoculation laws in the country in 2015 with Pan’s Senate Bill 277, allowing children to skip vaccines only when a doctor determines there is a medical reason to do so. But public health officials said the state’s progress was being undermined by an increasing number of questionable exemptions.
Few were surprised when hundreds of vaccine critics returned to Sacramento in protest. The first hearing on SB 276 in April drew hundreds — the Capitol hallways became humid from the crowds as mothers entertained children in lines that snaked aroundcorners. Parents waited for hours to speak in front of the Senate Health Committee to voice their opposition to a bill they said would result in their children being forced out of school because the criteria for medical exemptions was too narrow.
“I’m a parent. I don’t want someone that the governor of California appointed to make a decision for my family.” But first they had to figure out exactly what the governor wanted, a task left to Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly, a pediatrician and the former director of health and social impact for Los Angeles County.
The threshold would allow the state to ensure that schools with low immunization rates did not pose a danger to the public. Physicians say people are best protected from measles outbreaks if at least 95% of a community is vaccinated. With Newsom’s approval secured, supporters of the bill turned their attention to countering online pleas and angry posts from the opposition that they felt could sway legislators’ votes.The California Medical Assn., the main sponsor of the bill, paid Republican strategist Mike Madrid to lead a social media campaign in July aimed at boosting pro-vaccination messages on social media, recruiting parents to join in.
After marathon negotiations between Pan’s office, the administration and advocates went late into the night of Aug. 29, the outline of a new deal seemed to surface. But the next day, SB 276 was sent to the Assembly floor with no changes. Staffers who worked on the amendments were confused, and sources interviewed by The Times paint a muddy picture of what happened as the long Labor Day weekend began.
Opponents of legislation to tighten the rules on giving exemptions for vaccinations demonstrate in the Assembly gallery after lawmakers approved the companion bill earlier this month.“There are a few pending technical — but important — changes to the bill that clarify the exemption and appeal process that have broad support,” the tweet said.
“There were so many people speaking up that it became a collective concern,” said one legislator, who declined to be identified to speak freely about the situation. “It was a disappointment.”
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