Senate panel backs bill to reestablish state vaccine advisory council as amended

Sen. Klein introduced Senate File 3859, which would reconstitute a state-level vaccine advisory council to provide Minnesotans with science-based vaccination recommendations. Klein said the bill is not a vaccine mandate for individuals but would reestablish a forum of medical experts, including representatives connected to national medical organizations, to advise the state.

Klein told the committee the advisory committee on immunization practices at the federal level had been "gutted" of original members and replaced with advisors whose recommendations, he said, are not always aligned with established medical institutions. "This bill reconstitutes an advisory committee and authorization practices at the state level so Minnesotans can at least get reliable information," Klein said.

The committee adopted an A11 amendment to clarify appointment authority, tighten membership definitions and require periodic reporting to committee chairs. Several senators raised concerns about how members would be selected and whether the body could become ideologically driven. Sen. Koran and others questioned whether the council would be sufficiently nonpartisan; Sen. Hemmingsen-Jaeger and Sen. Johnson Stewart emphasized the bill’s intent to rely on scientific expertise and state public-health capacity.

Sen. Drazkowski asked whether the bill would increase health-care costs and noted a fiscal note was pending; Klein said commerce and insurance coverage questions were addressed in the Commerce Committee and that the bill includes language intended to defray premium increases if they occur. The fiscal impact was not available in committee.

After debate and questions, Sen. Maye Quade moved to recommend Senate File 3859 to pass as amended and re-refer it to the Health and Human Services Committee; the motion carried by voice vote.

The committee record shows adoption of A11 and a voice vote to pass the bill as amended to Health and Human Services; no roll-call fiscal figure was recorded in the hearing transcript.