Signed by Governor Jared Polis

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to concur with Senate amendments and pass a bill that amends Colorado's vaccination requirements for children attending public schools.

Highlights:

• Amends various statutes governing the operations of the Department of Public Health and Environment (department) regarding disease control (Sec. 1-18).

• Repeal the governor's expert emergency epidemic response committee (GEEERC) (Sec. 1-18)

• Requires and directs the state board of health to review and amend, as necessary, the department's emergency response and recovery plan every 3 years (Sec. 1-18).

• Require the executive director of the department or, if the executive director is not the chief medical officer, the chief medical officer, to convene a group of subject matter experts to develop crisis standards of care to be used in responding to a public health emergency (Sec. 1-18).

• Authorizes the records of a physician assistant to be used to create an official certificate of immunization for a student (Sec. 1-18).

• Extend the period within which a student whose certificate of immunization is not up to date to comply with immunization requirements to attend school from 14 days after notice of noncompliance is received to 30 days after receipt of the noncompliance notice (Sec. 1-18).

• Extends from February 15 to April 15 the deadline for a school to distribute the annual letter to parents specifying the school's aggregate immunization rates and the immunization requirements applicable for the next school year (Sec. 1-18).

• Authorizes the camp to maintain an out-of-state immunization record for an out-of-state camper, rather than the state's official certificate of immunization (Sec. 1-18).

• Repeals gendered pronouns and replaces them with gender-neutral language (Sec. 1-18).

• Repeal the requirement for schools to notify the department and the local public health agency when a student is suspended or expelled from school for noncompliance with immunization requirements (Sec. 1-18).

• Extends from July 15 to September 15, the date by which the department is required to submit to the general assembly an annual report summarizing health-care-associated infections data received from health facilities in the state (Sec. 1-18).

• Repeals the requirement for certain health-care providers to offer a hepatitis C screening test to individuals born between 1945 and 1965 and instead directs the state board of health to adopt standards, consistent with recommendations from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for hepatitis C screening tests (Sec. 1-18).

• Specifies that the provisions of this bill declare an emergency and shall take effect immediately upon passage and approval by the Governor (Sec. 21).

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to amend and pass a bill that amends Colorado's vaccination requirements for children attending public schools.

Highlights:

• Amends various statutes governing the operations of the Department of Public Health and Environment (department) regarding disease control (Sec. 1-18).

• Repeal the governor's expert emergency epidemic response committee (GEEERC) (Sec. 1-18)

• Requires and directs the state board of health to review and amend, as necessary, the department's emergency response and recovery plan every 3 years (Sec. 1-18).

• Require the executive director of the department or, if the executive director is not the chief medical officer, the chief medical officer, to convene a group of subject matter experts to develop crisis standards of care to be used in responding to a public health emergency (Sec. 1-18).

• Authorizes the records of a physician assistant to be used to create an official certificate of immunization for a student (Sec. 1-18).

• Extend the period within which a student whose certificate of immunization is not up to date to comply with immunization requirements to attend school from 14 days after notice of noncompliance is received to 30 days after receipt of the noncompliance notice (Sec. 1-18).

• Extends from February 15 to April 15 the deadline for a school to distribute the annual letter to parents specifying the school's aggregate immunization rates and the immunization requirements applicable for the next school year (Sec. 1-18).

• Authorizes the camp to maintain an out-of-state immunization record for an out-of-state camper, rather than the state's official certificate of immunization (Sec. 1-18).

• Repeals gendered pronouns and replaces them with gender-neutral language (Sec. 1-18).

• Repeal the requirement for schools to notify the department and the local public health agency when a student is suspended or expelled from school for noncompliance with immunization requirements (Sec. 1-18).

• Extends from July 15 to September 15, the date by which the department is required to submit to the general assembly an annual report summarizing health-care-associated infections data received from health facilities in the state (Sec. 1-18).

• Repeals the requirement for certain health-care providers to offer a hepatitis C screening test to individuals born between 1945 and 1965 and instead directs the state board of health to adopt standards, consistent with recommendations from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for hepatitis C screening tests (Sec. 1-18).

• Specifies that the provisions of this bill declare an emergency and shall take effect immediately upon passage and approval by the Governor (Sec. 21).

Full Bill Text