• H574 would undermine the ability of Idaho schools to protect students and staff by shifting vaccine status reporting from opt-out to opt-in. While that may sound procedural, the impact is significant: schools would no longer have reliable vaccination rate data. Without this, school personnel cannot make informed decisions about mitigation during outbreaks of measles, whooping cough, flu, or other communicable diseases. In addition, a recent poll showed that a majority (72%) of Republicans support our current opt-out system.

• The bill would also prohibit schools, daycares, and universities from requiring vaccines. This bill is unnecessary, as Idaho already allows parents the freedom to choose, and our exemption procedure is currently one of the easiest in the country. Also, evidence strongly suggests that looser vaccine requirements lead to lower immunization rates, leading to more vaccine-preventable disease in vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and our youngest children.

For families, this means greater risk of preventable outbreaks, more missed school days, and increased strain on working parents when classrooms or facilities must close due to illness. 

For the more than one thousand Idaho children with cancer or other diagnoses that cannot receive vaccines, this means they cannot rely on others in the community to protect them from potentially deadly vaccine-preventable diseases. 

H574 prioritizes ideology over practical, data-driven public health management. It weakens local control, limits institutional flexibility, and reduces protections for children and families. Please vote NO and keep Idaho healthy and safe.