State GOP panel ready to block new student vaccination mandates

Wisconsin Republicans are preparing to again block a new policy from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers that requires students to get vaccinated twice against meningitis and tightening student chickenpox vaccination mandates, according to a report from the Associated Press.

The Legislature’s GOP-controlled rules committee held a public hearing on the policy Tuesday. A committee vote to block the policy could soon follow, perhaps within days.

The committee’s co-chair, Republican Sen. Steve Nass, called the new provisions “arbitrary and capricious” in a message to constituents. The rules committee also blocked the policy in the last legislative session.

Officials with the state health department, an Evers cabinet agency, announced in February they were trying again to implement regulations this fall that require students entering 7th grade to get vaccinated against meningitis. Students entering 12th grade must get a booster shot. Previously, the agency did not require any vaccinations against meningitis.