(The Center Square) – The Washington State Senate on Thursday passed a controversial bill on vaccines and other public health requirements during communicable disease outbreaks.
Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1531, which aims to ensure public health responses to communicable diseases are guided by “the best available science,” passed the House of Representatives on March 8.
Rep. Dan Bronoske, D-Lakewood, is the bill’s prime sponsor. He told The Center Square the bill is not about mandating vaccines or trying to resurrect bad feelings from the pandemic.
“This isn’t me trying to poke someone in the eye,” he said. “Job losses and the entire experience, it’s going to take us a generation to heal from all of that, so this isn’t me poking the bear. I’m trying to just provide clarity to local health officers to go do what they need to do.”
Sen. Annette Cleveland, D-Vancouver, voiced support for the bill ahead of Thursday’s final vote on the Senate floor.
“Part of public health is science; evidence-based, peer-reviewed data-driven science,” she said. “This bill will help ensure access to public health information that’s backed by science for every member of the state.”
Sen. Ron Muzzall, R-Oak Harbor, said he could not vote in favor of the bill.
“I think the last four or five years are evidence that we cannot be sure what the best available science is,” he reasoned.
Sen. Leonard Christian, R-Spokane Valley, also spoke in opposition to the bill.
“I served in the military for 20 years, and during that time, I was not allowed to talk to the media for any reason; even though I went to crash investigation school and learned how and why airplanes would crash, I still was barred at any point of time with talking to the media. I believe this bill is doing the same thing,” he said. “It is making it so any dissent from the official policy is quashed. I believe this is a bad bill and a black eye on the First Amendment. I want to hear everything, all of the science available and I believe this hides people’s right to be able to speak.”
The bill was approved on a final vote in the Senate of 31-18. Sen. Paul Harris, R-Vancouver, voted with all Democrats in favor. All Republicans voted against the bill.
It now goes to Gov. Bob Ferguson for his signature. The bill contains an emergency clause, and if signed into law by the governor, would take effect immediately.
