The House Committee on Health voted to advance HB1118, a bill to repeal nonmedical school‑immunization exemptions, following an extended and highly emotional public comment period that included dozens of speakers both opposing and supporting the change.

Department of Health Director Dr. Kenneth K. Fink testified in support of the repeal, telling lawmakers that declining vaccination rates and rising exemption numbers threaten herd immunity for highly contagious diseases such as measles. “Last year, the overall nonmedical vaccine exemption rate was 5.3 percent,” Dr. Fink said, adding that measles requires about a 95 percent immunization rate for herd immunity and that rising exemption trends put the state at risk.

Witnesses in favor included pediatricians and public‑health clinicians who warned of past outbreaks, severe vaccine‑preventable illness, and risks to medically vulnerable students who cannot be vaccinated. Dr. Cassandra Simonson, a Maui pediatrician, offered an account of caring for children struck by severe vaccine‑preventable disease and urged removal of the exemption.

Opponents testified in large numbers and emphasized religious freedom, parental rights and personal or anecdotal claims of vaccine injury. Several speakers urged the committee to preserve the religious and other nonmedical exemptions; many cited constitutional claims and said removal would force families to withdraw children from public schools.

The attorney general’s office proposed a technical change to avoid language tying exemptions only to “an established church” and suggested replacing that wording with phrasing focused on sincerely held religious beliefs; the committee adopted that amendment. Members debated legal issues, educational access and public‑health tradeoffs; the chair urged members to vote with their conscience. The committee recommendation to pass with the attorney‑general amendment was adopted in the roll call: two recorded “no” votes were noted and several members cast votes with reservations.

Why this matters: The measure would change longstanding statutory protections for religious and other nonmedical exemptions and directly intersect with constitutional free‑exercise issues, school attendance and public‑health protection of medically vulnerable people.

Next steps: HB1118 advances to additional committees where constitutional, legal and funding implications will be further vetted.