July 21, 2026
The Honorable Ronald Mariano
Speaker of the House of Representatives
State House, Room 356
24 Beacon St.
Boston, MA 02133
The Honorable Aaron Michlewitz
Chair, House Committee on Ways and Means
State House, Room 243
24 Beacon St.
Boston, MA 02133
RE: Support House Bill 2554, An Act Relative to Routine Childhood Immunizations
Dear Mr. Speaker and Chairman Michlewitz,
On behalf of the Massachusetts Families for Vaccines Coalition, representing over 40 organizations across the Commonwealth, we write to respectfully request your support and urge favorable House action before July 31 for House Bill 2554, which would remove the non-medical exemption from required school vaccines and enhance data collection and sharing to better track immunization rates.
House Bill 2554 is supported by leading medical, public health, labor, education, and community organizations. Public support for this legislation is also clear: a poll conducted last month by Workbench Strategies found that 89% of Massachusetts voters support vaccinating K-12 students against contagious diseases for school and 70% want their legislators to vote in favor of H.2554. 73% of Democratic primary voters reported that they would be more likely to vote for an incumbent who supports House Bill 2554. Support for House Bill 2554 is broadly consistent across political party affiliations, demographic groups, and regions of the state.
Recent data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health indicate that use of the non-medical exemption continues to steadily increase. During the 2025-2026 school year, over a thousand kindergartners received non-medical exemptions from at least one vaccine—more than in any previous year. Seven out of 14 Massachusetts counties reported county-wide kindergarten MMR immunization rates below the 95% needed to prevent outbreaks, with many individual schools reporting immunization rates falling well below that level.
Strengthening our school vaccine requirements will protect the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable students and community members, prevent costly outbreaks, and improve transparency around immunization rates to provide parents with better peace of mind around their children’s safety at school. We therefore respectfully urge the Legislature to pass House Bill 2554.
Thank you for your consideration of this important public health legislation.
Sincerely,
Katie Blair, JD, Director
Massachusetts Families for Vaccines
Northe Saunders, President
American Families for Vaccines
Jessica Tang, President
American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts
Patti Wukovits, BSN, RN, Co-Executive Director
American Society for Meningitis Prevention
Colin Killick, Executive Director
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Azhar Majeed, Director of Government Affairs and Policy
Center for Inquiry
Anabel Santiago Gibson, Co-Executive Director
Coalition for Social Justice Education Fund
Justin Pasquariello, Chief Executive Officer
East Boston Social Centers
Alicia Stillman, Executive Director
Emily Stillman Foundation
Ryan D. Jayne, Senior Policy Counsel
Freedom From Religion Foundation Action Fund
Patti Wukovits, BSN, RN, AMB-BC, Executive Director
Kimberly Coffey Foundation
Chloe Schwartz, MPH, Director, Maternal & Infant Health Initiative
March of Dimes
Manju Mahajan, MD, FAAFP, AAHIVS, President
Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians
Taylor Rich, MPH, CCHW, Senior Manager of Training
Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers
David Lyczkowski, MD, President
Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
Sunny Kung, MD, FACP & Hemal Sampat, MD, FACP
Co-Chairs, Health and Public Policy Committee
Massachusetts Chapter of the American College of Physicians
Rebecca W. Brendel, MD, JD, President
Massachusetts Medical Society
Jodie Nierintz, Safety & Wellness Chair
Massachusetts PTA
Oami Amarasingham, JD, Deputy Director
Massachusetts Public Health Alliance
Chloe Zera, MD
Massachusetts Section of the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists
Michael Constantine, MD, President
Massachusetts Society of Clinical Oncologists
Matthew Bach, President
Massachusetts Teachers Association
John Lippitt, Ph.D., Leadership Team Member
Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts
Jonathan Cohn, Policy Director
Progressive Massachusetts
Dan Hoffer, Political and Legislative Director
SEIU Local 509
Claire Karl Miller
UU Mass Action