Committee narrows bill on vaccine-adverse-event data: state display removed, reporting to legislative management added

The House Human Services Committee on an unspecified date amended House Bill 14-67 to require a department report to legislative management of federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) data rather than requiring the department to publish state-specific VAERS data on its website.

Representative Hendricks described the amendment as moving the reporting requirement to legislative management and removing the obligation for the department to pull and display state-specific data on its website. Committee members discussed whether the change would still provide public access — several members noted the bill would maintain a link to the federal VAERS system and instructions for accessing state-specific data.

Lawmakers debated timing and frequency questions, including a proposed July 1 date and whether the report should be produced every even-numbered year. Representative Dobrevitch asked whether the intent of the report was purely recordkeeping or whether it was expected to prompt follow-up action; proponents said the primary goal was to make the data available to policymakers and to rebuild public trust in vaccines in the sponsor’s view.

Committee members approved the amendment by voice and later approved a motion to give the bill a “do pass as amended” recommendation. The committee’s roll call recorded the outcome as 12 yes, 0 no, 1 absent.

The adopted language leaves the department’s website with a link to the federal VAERS portal and instructions on how to access state-specific data but does not require the department to reformat and display state data directly; instead the department must report the federal VAERS data to legislative management as specified in the amendment.