HB 468

relating to immunization requirements.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1.  Section 38.001(b), Education Code, as amended by
Chapter 43 (H.B. 1098), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2007, is amended to read as follows:
(b)  The [Subject to Subsections (b-1) and (c), the]
executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission
may not modify or delete any of the immunizations in Subsection (a)
or [may] require immunizations against additional diseases as a
requirement for admission to any elementary or secondary school.
SECTION 2.  Section 38.001(b-1), Education Code, is amended
(b-1)  Each year, the Department of State Health Services
shall prepare a list of the immunizations required under Subsection
(a) [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.
SECTION 3.  Section 38.019(a), Education Code, is amended to
(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
[(C)]  health clinics in the district that offer
the influenza vaccine, to the extent those clinics are known to the
(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 4.  Section 81.023, Health and Safety Code, is
Sec. 81.023.  IMMUNIZATION.  (a)  The executive commissioner
may recommend to the legislature immunizations to include on the
list of immunizations required [department shall develop
immunization requirements] for children under Section 38.001(a),
(b)  The department shall cooperate with the Department of
Family and Protective Services in [formulating and] implementing
the immunization requirements for children admitted to child-care
(c)  The department shall cooperate with the State Board of
Education in [formulating and] implementing immunization
requirements for students admitted to public or private primary or
SECTION 5.  Subchapter A, Chapter 161, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 161.0035 to read as follows:
Sec. 161.0035.  PROHIBITED IMMUNIZATION REQUIREMENTS.  (a)
Except as provided by Subsection (b), a governmental entity may not
compel or require an individual to receive an immunization,
including an immunization listed on the immunization schedules
developed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and
(b)  Subsection (a) does not apply to an immunization
required by this subchapter or Section 38.001 or 51.933, Education
SECTION 6.  Section 161.004(a), Health and Safety Code, is
(a)  Every child in the state shall be immunized against
vaccine preventable diseases caused by infectious agents in
accordance with Section 38.001, Education Code [the immunization
schedule adopted in department rules].
SECTION 7.  Section 42.043(b), Human Resources Code, is
(b)  The department shall require that each child at an
appropriate age have a test for tuberculosis and be immunized
against the diseases listed in Section 38.001, Education Code
[diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis, mumps, rubella, rubeola,
invasive pneumococcal disease, and hepatitis A and against any
other communicable disease as recommended by the Department of
State Health Services].  The immunization must be effective on the
date of first entry into the facility.  However, a child may be
provisionally admitted if the required immunizations have begun and
are completed as rapidly as medically feasible.
SECTION 8.  The following provisions of the Education Code
(1)  Section 38.001(b), as amended by Chapter 94 (H.B.
1059), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007; and
SECTION 9.  This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
SECTION 10.  This Act takes effect immediately if it
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.