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THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MAY 14, 2019
New Washington state law limits
exemptions for measles vaccine
Similar bill
pending in Oregon
By MOLLY SOLOMON
Oregon Public Broadcasting
VANCOUVER,
Wash.
— Washington state par-
ents will no longer be able to
claim a personal or philosoph-
ical exemption to avoid giv-
ing their children the measles,
mumps and rubella vaccine.
Gov. Jay Inslee signed the
bill to limit such exemptions
Friday morning during a visit
to Vancouver, the epicenter of a
measles outbreak that sickened
71 people earlier this year.
“In Washington state we
believe in our doctors. We
believe in our nurses. We
believe in our educators. We
believe in science and we
love our children,” Inslee said
alongside Clark County law-
makers and public offi cials
before signing the bill into law.
“And that is why in Wash-
ington state, we are against
measles.”
The outbreak in southwest
Washington forced schools to
exclude hundreds of unvac-
cinated students, cost pub-
lic health authorities nearly
$1 million and prompted Ins-
lee to declare a public health
emergency.
The health scare also
pushed state legislators to
tighten vaccine laws this ses-
sion. More than 90% of the 71
cases in Washington were peo-
ple who had not been vacci-
nated. The local outbreak was
offi cially declared over on
April 29, after no new cases
were seen after a six-week
period.
Inslee said removing
the personal, philosophical
exemption is an important fi rst
step toward public health to
protect the state’s “most vul-
nerable citizens.” But he urged
continued work at local and
national levels to dispel fears
of vaccines that have circu-
lated on the internet.
“We should be listening
to science and medicine, not
social media,” Inslee said.
State Rep. Paul Harris,
R-Vancouver, sponsored the
bill as a simple message to
parents: If you want your kids
to go to a public school, they
must be vaccinated.
“I just think it’s the right
thing to do,” Harris said.
“Hopefully this will get our
rates up so we have commu-
nity immunity.”
At the time of the recent
measles outbreak, Clark
County had a vaccination rate
of 78%, with some schools in
the area reporting rates under
40%. Health offi cials say com-
munities need to have vacci-
nation rates between 90% and
95% to prevent an outbreak.
“I hope this new law will
bring to the forefront again
the importance of being vacci-
nated,” Harris said.
As the bill made its way
through the Legislature, it
drew the attention of anti-vac-
cine opponents, who fl ooded
public hearings with concerns
that vaccines would harm their
children. A couple of dozen
people stood outside Vancou-
ver City Hall on Friday, hold-
ing signs to protest the bill
signing.
The new law only applies to
the MMR vaccine for measles,
mumps and rubella. Parents
can continue to opt their kids
out of other required school
vaccinations with a personal
or philosophical exemption.
Religious and medical exemp-
tions are also still allowed for
all vaccinations.
According to the Centers
for Disease Control and Pre-
vention, measles have sick-
ened at least 764 people in the
U.S. this year — an all-time
high in cases reported since
measles was declared elimi-
nated in 2000.
More than 10 other states
are considering tightening
their vaccination laws this
year, including Oregon, which
is debating a bill to do away
with non medical exemptions
entirely.
Clark County public health
director Alan Melnick is hope-
ful Washington can continue
to move forward on enforc-
ing stricter laws for child
school-required vaccinations
and improving public aware-
ness of the issue.
Freak show comes to town
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Astorian
ABOVE: A performer known as Johnny Mayhem carves
an apple with a chainsaw during the Astoria Freak Show.
BELOW: An entertainer on stilts towers over people as they
prepare to enter the Astoria Freak Show. See more photos
and a video online at DailyAstorian.com
Undocumented immigrants could get driver’s licenses under bill
Hope is to make
roads safer
By CLAIRE
WITHYCOMBE
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Undocu-
mented immigrants and oth-
ers who can’t prove they are
in the country legally could
get a driver’s license under a
proposal in the state House.
With less than two
months before the Legisla-
ture adjourns, though, there
has been no action since law-
makers on the Joint Com-
mittee on Transportation
took testimony on the bill in
mid-April. The committee is
scheduled to work on the bill
in about two weeks.
Supporters say the bill,
by allowing drivers who
are undocumented to get
licensed and to get car insur-
ance, could make roads
safer, potentially reducing
the number of hit-and-runs
by uninsured drivers.
They say that if the bill
is passed, undocumented
immigrants would no longer
need to rely on their teen-
age children or other peo-
ple with legal status to get
to work or other obligations
— especially in the state’s
rural areas, where driving
long distances is par for the
course.
The bill would direct the
state Department of T rans-
portation to start offering
licenses to people without
proof of legal status starting
in 2021.
Thirty-six sponsors
The bill has 36 sponsors
in the House — more than
half of all its members.
One of the bill’s chief
sponsors, state Rep. Diego
Hernandez, D-Portland, said
that’s far from a guarantee
that House Bill 2015 will
pass.
Hernandez hopes the bill
will wind its way from com-
mittee, to the budget com-
mittees, and to each chamber.
“But we’re running out of
time,” Hernandez said. “So
anything can happen.”
Sen. James Manning,
D-Eugene, another chief
sponsor of the measure, said
he believes a majority of his
Senate colleagues support
clearing a path to driver’s
licenses.
“I think that the major-
ity of my colleagues would
support a safety bill like
this,” Manning said. “Every-
one has their own bills that
they’re trying to move for-
ward, so it’s a bit of a lit-
tle shuffl e ... But I intend to
carry this message through
and have one-on-ones with
people that have any ques-
tions about the bill.”
Manning served in the
Army for 24 years, a tenure
that included stints abroad.
During an interview, he
held up the driver’s license
he obtained while serving in
Panama.
“The only thing that this
entitled me to or provided for
me, was that I understood the
rules of the road and I was
able to get insurance,” Man-
ning said. “Nothing more,
nothing less.”
Manning stresses that the
bill is “about safety.”
All people living in the
U.S. have to pass tests and
get cleared to drive, he said.
“We want to make sure
that if you’re here temporar-
ily or long term and you’re
going to navigate our roads,
we want to make sure that
you’re properly licensed,”
Manning said. “And again,
getting a driver’s license is
a privilege, it’s not a right.
Because you’re an American
citizen, that doesn’t mean
you have the right to drive.
You have to prove that you
qualify to drive.”
Causa, an immigrants’
rights organization, esti-
mates that up to 100,000 peo-
ple living in Oregon could be
eligible.
The measure wouldn’t
impact only undocumented
immigrants.
Even U.S. citizens who,
for whatever reason, may not
have access to documents
proving their legal presence
would be able to get driv-
ing privileges by passing the
required tests.
That includes people who
are homeless and survivors
of domestic violence.
Abusive partners can
hold vital records hostage
or destroy them, according
to Jessica Mathis, a hous-
ing coordinator for Bradley
Angle, a Portland shelter.
“When survivors are
unable to drive, they can’t
maintain the jobs they need
in order to support their
families and leave abuse,”
Mathis said in written testi-
mony. “Without the ability to
go to work, access social ser-
vices, or take their children
to school they often have to
return to their abuser. Hav-
ing to choose between safety
and driving illegally is not
only bad for these families,
but the community. We are
all impacted by the increased
safety and fi nancial risk of
unlicensed and uninsured
drivers.”
Political climate
In late 2007, then-Gov.
Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat,
issued an executive order
saying that people applying
for driver’s licenses, driving
permits and ID cards in Ore-
gon had to document their
citizenship or that they were
in the U.S. legally.
Six years later, lawmak-
Cheers
to
80 years
Please join us for
Conley Vaughn’s Birthday!
May 18th•1-3 pm
Seaside American Legion •1315 Broadway.
No gifts, please
ers moved to create a special
driver’s card program for
undocumented immigrants,
but opponents sent the mea-
sure to the ballot, where vot-
ers rejected it.
Supporters of the new bill
believe the political envi-
ronment around immigra-
tion has changed in the wake
of the 2016 presidential
election.
They point to the fail-
ure of Measure 105, a bal-
lot measure last November
that would have repealed
Oregon’s decades-old law
that prevents state and local
law enforcement for expend-
ing resources to arrest peo-
ple whose only violation of
the law is being here without
legal permission.
“In the past several years,
the context around immi-
gration has changed com-
pletely around the country
and around our state,” said
Iván Hernández, communi-
cations manager for Causa.
“We saw that with Mea-
sure 105 …when Orego-
nians voted overwhelmingly
to protect our immigrant
neighbors by protecting the
state’s anti-discrimination
and anti-racial profi ling laws
and the state sanctuary law.”
Others, however, have
objected to the idea .
Keith Rosenstrater, of
Salem, urged lawmakers to
reject the measure because
it “legitimizes illegal immi-
gration, devalues citizenship
and threatens the sovereignty
of our state and nation.”
The Oregon Capital
Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group,
Pamplin Media Group and
Salem Reporter.
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