Committee adds amendment and sends bill removing CDC vaccine-schedule language to summer study

The Population Health Subcommittee voted 10-0 on March 4, 2025, to send House Bill 1156 to summer study after adding Amendment 00412, delaying further committee action on whether to remove language in state law that references the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) vaccination schedules.

Sponsor Representative Lynn told the panel that "This bill removes the unconstitutional code telling parents it's their responsibility to follow the CDC or AAP vaccination schedule," arguing Tennessee's law uniquely delegates authority to outside organizations and that the language can complicate custody disputes.

The bill's sponsor said Tennessee is "right in the middle of the pack" on vaccination rates and that removing the statutory language would not stop parents from receiving standard medical advice from pediatricians. "All we're saying is, parents, you're not gonna be charged with a misdemeanor because you're not following this law," the sponsor said.

Office of Legal Services attorney Heather Auswell told the committee she had reviewed the cited code sections and that, "to my knowledge, those sections are not unconstitutional." Auswell also said current law includes language stating "no parent [or] legal guardian shall be criminally prosecuted nor civilly liable for failure to comply with the provisions of this part," and that parents are not being prosecuted under the statute as drafted.

Committee members raised constitutional and public-health concerns during the discussion. Chairman Clemens expressed worry about potential declines in vaccination and said the CDC "is the nation's leading science based data driven service organization that protects the public's health." Representative Lynn replied that the bill's goal is to resolve an alleged nondelegation problem in state code and to remove the unique statutory reference to outside agencies.

During committee proceedings, members voted to add Amendment 00412 to HB1156 before taking the motion to defer the bill for summer study. The clerk announced the roll call as "10 ayes, 0 nays." With that vote, the subcommittee postponed further consideration until the summer study period.

Because the committee voted to send HB1156 to summer study, there is no final committee approval or denial at this time. The amendment number and the summer-study referral are now part of the bill record in the subcommittee.