TX Vaccine Bill 2009-2019
Description
This dataset includes bills filed during the 2009-2019 Texas State Legislative Session related to vaccines. The list of bills was identified and obtained from the Texas Legislature Online (TLO) database, searching the key words vaccine, vaccination, and immunization. The list excludes all those related to animal vaccinations, veterinary law, or amendments that did not impact vaccine policy (but were added to laws where vaccine policy is located). This list was compared with existing lists of vaccine bills from two advocacy groups--The Immunization Partnership (TIP) and the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC). Bills were categorized by the sponsor’s political affiliation, the effect the legislation had on immunization rates directly (pro, anti, or neutral), and what the bill was trying to achieve (e.g., increase access to the state vaccine registry). Texas lawmakers filed 104 vaccine-related bills during this period; of these bills, 31 (30%) received floor votes, and 21 became state laws (20%). Overall, the bills that became state laws were more likely to have bipartisan sponsorship (13 bills, 62%) and/or have a neutral impact on immunization rates (10 bills, 48%), with only two anti-vaccine bills passing.