Newsom signed Senate Bill 276 by Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) soon after the state Legislature gave final approval to a separate bill, SB 714, that contained fixes sought by the governor. Newsom also signed SB 714.
California Governor Gavin Newson signed so many bills this week his pen ran out of ink…maybe, I don’t know. But he did sign a lot of bills. Among the bills he signed, several are controversial, none as much as the vaccination bills he signed. As he was at the governor’s desk signing, anti-vaccination protestors were being escorted out of the state capital and arrests were being made at the doorsteps of the governor’s office.
You may remember that Senator Richard Pan, the author of the bills was followed on the streets of Sacramento by an anti-vaccination protester that resulted in a physical altercation when the protester pushed the Senator as he entered an establishment.
What exactly does the bill do? The bills (combined) create state oversight of medical exemptions for those vaccines that are required for enrollment and admission to both public, charter, and private schools and daycare centers. The biggest source of contention is the issue of medical exemptions that are allowed and who is qualified to give them. The state says that too many doctors are writing medical exemptions frivolously, and the bills will provide some oversight to make sure the exemptions and doctors who give them are legitimate.
Anti-vaxxers are vowing to take the issue to the voters. An application to put the issue before the voters has been initiated. Stay tuned for more on this matter.
Three mothers in opposition of SB 276 stood on their chairs after the Assembly Appropriations announced that they approved the bill. CHP is on the way and the women have refused to move.