By Hector Gonzalez
Staff Writer

June 29, 2015 -- After slogging through several heated debates in the state Legislature and enduring emotional pleas from parents on both sides of the issue during public hearings, a controversial vaccination bill co-authored by Santa Monica state Sen. Ben Allen is now two steps away from becoming law in California.

Approved by the Assembly last week on a 44-36 vote, SB277, co-authored by Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, a pediatrician, now goes back to the Senate for a final review. It's a routine procedure to approve any changes that may have been made by the Assembly, if necessary, before a final vote, said Colleen Beamish, Allen's chief of staff.

That vote could happen as early as today, said Beamish on Friday -- nearly five months after Allen and Pan introduced the bill in February -- meaning SB277 could reach Gov. Jerry Brown's desk later this week.

“I want to thank all of my colleagues in the Assembly for their thoughtful deliberation of this legislation and their ultimate decision that the health of our community will be increased with the passage of this law,” said Allen, a former president of the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District.

State senators passed the bill May 15 on a 25-10 vote but not without much discussion. Sen. Joel Anderson, R-Alpine, questioned why the bill was removing the religious exemption to vaccinations, asking, “why is it that a religious exemption is so scary to this Senate body?” (“Measles Vaccination Bill Co-Authored by Santa Monica Legislator Passed by Senate,” May 15, 2015)

During an Assembly Health Committee hearing on June 9, lawmakers heard emotional testimony from parents against and for the proposal, which removes all waivers from vaccinations except only those for children with serious health problems.

Lawmakers heard from parents who said their children developed autism after receiving vaccinations, as well as from a woman who said her baby was dying after being infected by the measles at 5 months, too young for the vaccine.

Since 2012, California parents have been able to choose to opt out of school vaccine requirements by claiming a personal belief exemption. SB 277 removes that option, so that only an exemption for serious medical reasons would remain, according to an email from Allen's office.

“SB277 will not remove a parent’s choice to vaccinate his or her child. However, if a parent makes the choice to not vaccinate, they would have the responsibility to home-school their child, participate in a multi-family private home-school or use public school independent study that is administered by local education agencies,” his office said.

Vaccination checks by school officials would still be required when a child enrolls in kindergarten, in seventh grade or when a child enrolls in a new school district, said the email.

In December, a measles outbreak centered at Disneyland spread to several states and infected 169 people, including 131 in California. In late January, a Santa Monica high school baseball coach was reported infected with the disease, and an infant at the Santa Monica High School child care also contracted measles, forcing officials to temporarily shut down the center on February 1.

On February 4, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District officials released vaccination data for the 2014-2015 school year that showed that at the Santa Monica Alternative Schoolhouse (SMASH), 40.3 percent of the kindergarten-through-eighth grade students were not immunized because their parents received “personal belief” waivers allowing them to opt out of measles vaccinations (“High Percentage of Santa Monica Students Not Vaccinated Against Measles,  Data Shows,” February 6, 2015)

Allen and Pan introduced SB277 the same day.

State health officials declared the outbreak over on April 17.

If Brown signs the bill, it would make California the 32nd state in the nation to ban personal belief objections to vaccinations and only the third state to eliminate the religious exemption.

That question fueled wide speculation in the media, with one Sacramento publication calling Brown “unpredictable.”

In 2012, Brown signed a similarly controversial vaccine bill, AB2109 -- also authored by Pan -- but it did not change the state's exemptions laws. It required parents who choose to opt out to discuss vaccinations with a doctor or health care provider, who must provide a note to school officials saying the discussion was held.

In his signing message, Brown, a former Jesuit seminarian, directed the state Department of Health to “allow for a separate religious exemption on the form.”

“In this way, people whose religious beliefs preclude vaccinations will not be required to seek a health care practitioner's signature,” said Brown in his message.