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SB 460 West Virginia Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Relating to vaccine requirements

SB 460 amends West Virginia's school immunization law to allow religious and philosophical exemptions for required vaccines (including measles, chickenpox, and polio), in addition to existing medical exemptions. It removes the requirement for schools to report unvaccinated students to health officials and eliminates the position of a state immunization officer. The bill prohibits schools and child care centers from excluding students from extracurricular activities or school events due to using an exemption, and permits civil lawsuits for violations of these rules. These changes directly affect students, parents, and schools in West Virginia.
Issues: ✗ HealthcareOpposes HealthcareRemoves mandatory vaccine requirements and oversight, weakening public health enforcement in schools per healthcare policy definition.90% confidence
Bill status failed 4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Feb 2025
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2025
Governor
Introduced Feb 13, 2025 Last action Mar 26, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Committee Substitute → sb460 h hhr am adopted.htm · 4 edits
MODERATE
The bill was amended to replace the role of a dedicated 'Immunization Officer' with the State Health Officer, who now has the authority to grant medical exemptions directly. The amendment also clarifies that licensed medical professionals providing medical exemptions are immune from civil liability unless they acted with gross negligence or willful misconduct, and adds a requirement for them to report exemption numbers to the state health office.
Scope change
The scope of exemption authority shifted from a specific appointed officer to the State Health Officer, and the liability protections for medical providers were expanded.
ELIGIBILITY

Medical exemptions are now granted by the State Health Officer instead of a separate Immunization Officer.

ENFORCEMENT

Licensed physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners providing medical exemptions are granted immunity from civil liability unless their actions involve gross negligence or willful misconduct.

REQUIREMENT

Medical providers must now report the number of children granted exemptions and their counties to the State Health Officer, who must report this data to the Joint Committee on Health annually.

The specific provision creating and delegating authority to a separate 'Immunization Officer' was removed.

Floor votes · House of Delegates Mar 21, 2025

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
45
Key actions
6
Committee
6
Amendments
7
Mar 21, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee amendment adopted (Roll No. 157)
lower
Mar 21, 2025
Amended
Amendment rejected (Roll No. 156)
lower
Mar 21, 2025
Amended
Amendment rejected (Roll No. 155)
lower
Mar 21, 2025
Amended
Amendment rejected (Roll No. 154)
lower
Mar 21, 2025
Lower · Passed
Amendment adopted (Roll No. 153)
lower
Mar 21, 2025
Lower · Passed
Motion for previous question adopted (Roll No. 152)
lower
Mar 21, 2025
Amended
Amendment rejected (Roll No. 151)
lower
Mar 21, 2025
Amended
Amendment rejected (Roll No. 150)
lower
Mar 21, 2025
Amended
Amendment rejected (Roll No. 149)
lower
Mar 21, 2025
Introduced
Amendment reported by the Clerk
lower
Mar 20, 2025
Lower · Passed
With amendment, do pass
lower
Feb 24, 2025
Committee
To House Health and Human Resources
lower
Feb 24, 2025
Committee
To Health and Human Resources
lower
Feb 24, 2025
Introduced
Introduced in House
lower
Feb 21, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (Roll No. 18)
upper
Feb 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee substitute reported
upper
Feb 13, 2025
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
Feb 13, 2025
Committee
To Health and Human Resources
upper
0 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.