Senator Lara Votes "Yes," Senator Nguyen Recorded As "Not Voting," On SB 277 That Would End Exemptions From Childhood Vaccinations Based on Personal Belief
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(May 15, 2015) -- The state Senate voted on May 14 to approve and advance to the Assembly SB 277, a measure that would eliminate personal belief as an exemption from the requirement to vaccinate children against a number of infectious diseases before they're admitted to public or private elementary or secondary schools or day care centers.
The measure gained traction after a recent measles outbreak that public health officials said was propelled by a number of unvaccinated children.
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LB area state Senator Ricardo Lara (D., LB/Huntington Park) voted "yes" while state Senator Janet Nguyen (R., SE LB/OC) remained silent on the roll call and was recorded as "not voting." (In early April, Senator Nguyen voted to approve the bill as a memember of the state Senate Health Committee.) Video of the Senate floor proceedings shows Senator Nguyen present prior to discussion of SB 277 (she spoke on a recognition for Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month) and she was present and voted on the bill immediately following SB 277.
LBREPORT.com invited Senator Nguyen's Sacramento office to provide us with a statement explaining her refusal to take a voted position for or against the bill on the Senate floor; her office told us the Senator's press person was unavailable; we left call-back information (email and phone) and received no response on May 14 or 15.
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To view the text of SB 277 passed by the staet Senate, click here.
To view the state Senate legislative analysis of the bill -- which includes a list of groups supporting and opposing the measure -- click here.
To view VIDEO of the Senate floor debate on the measure, click here and scroll to 39:10 in the floor senssion.
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Republicans offered a number of amendments; majority Democrats swatted the amendments down.
The final Senate vote tally was 25-11 (after Senator Huff, silent on the roll call, added in as a "no" vote.) To view the Senate recorded vote tally, click here.
The Senate majorityt's approval advances SB 277 to the Assembly.
