New Hampshire law requires that all children enrolled in any school, pre-school, or child care center have certain immunizations to protect them and those around them from preventable diseases. Certain exemptions are allowed for families.
In order to ensure compliance with this law, schools, and child care providers must collect and review the immunization records of enrolled children and submit an annual immunization report to the Department of Health and Human Services.
HB 1213 looks to remove the reporting requirement for child care centers, threatening the health and safety of New Hampshire children and critical federal funding for child care centers.
About the Bill
HB 1213, as amended, not only impacts child care reporting but now exempts child care centers from any and all immunization enrollment requirements. This weakens public health protections for young children and unnecessarily risks critical federal funding for child care centers.
New Hampshire’s only source of federal funding to support child care comes through the Child Care Development Block Grant. This block grant requires the NH Department of Health and Human Services to set minimum health and safety requirements, including age-appropriate immunizations. While CCDF rules preserve and protect parental choice by explicitly outlining exemptions to immunization, federal rules do not permit a state to completely remove all immunization standards. Without minimum immunization requirements, centers would not qualify for CCDF funds.
In 2023, child care centers and advocates championed the Child Care for NH Working Families Act, which modernized the New Hampshire Child Care Scholarship program to ensure more families qualify for scholarships. HB 1213 undermines those changes by risking the program as a whole and further complicating the child care crisis.
Bill Status
HB 1213 passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 189-173. The bill has crossed over to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, which held a public hearing for the bill on April 17. Next, the committee will hold an executive session to vote on a recommendation for the bill. There's still time to email the committee to urge them to OPPOSE the bill.
