March 16, 2026
The Honorable John J. Lawn, Jr.
Chair, Joint Committee on Health Care Financing
State House, Room 236
24 Beacon St.
Boston, MA 02133
Dear Chairman Lawn and Committee Members,
The Massachusetts Legislature has worked quickly in recent months to ensure that the state’s vaccine recommendations are based on sound scientific evidence and that its residents are able to access immunizations. The undersigned organizations request that the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing report out favorably H.2554, An Act Relative to Routine Childhood
Immunizations, which would remove the non-medical exemption from required school vaccines and enhance data collection and sharing to better track immunization rates.
H.2554 is supported by Massachusetts’s leading medical and public health institutions. It is also popular with voters: polling shows that 70% of Massachusetts voters support H.2554’s passage, with support rising to 72% after respondents considered various arguments for and against the legislation. Support for H.2554 was broadly consistent among voters from various
demographic groups and areas of the state.
Major religious groups agree that immunization is part of society’s moral duty to care for the greater common good. For example, the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops disallows religious exemptions in Catholic schools, and released a statement in 2024 affirming its commitment to protecting the health of all children.
With two measles cases already reported in Massachusetts this year, we must act now to prevent its spread. Eliminating non-medical exemptions is the most effective way to prevent outbreaks and ensure strong immunization rates. We respectfully ask that the Committee report H.2554 out favorably.
Thank you for your leadership and your support of this important legislation.
Sincerely,
Katie Blair, JD, Director
Massachusetts Families for Vaccines
Northe Saunders, President
American Families for Vaccines
Patti Wukovits and Alicia Stillman, Co-Executive Directors
American Society for Meningitis Prevention
Azhar Majeed, Director of Government Affairs and Policy
Center for Inquiry
Alicia Stillman, Executive Director
Emily Stillman Foundation
Patti Wukovits, BSN, RN, AMB-BC, Executive Director
Kimberly Coffey Foundation
Chloe Schwartz, MPH, Director of Maternal & Infant Health Initiatives, New England
March of Dimes
Brenda Anders Pring, MD, FAAP, President
Massachusetts Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics
Hemal Sampat, MD & Sunny Kung, MD, Co-Chairs, Health and Public Policy Committee
Massachusetts Chapter of the American College of Physicians
Emily Dulong, Vice President, Government Advocacy and Public Policy
Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association
Olivia C. Liao, MD, FACS, President
Massachusetts Medical Society
Oami Amarasingham, JD, Deputy Director
Massachusetts Public Health Alliance
Michael Constantine, MD, President
Massachusetts Society of Clinical Oncologists
Jonathan Cohn, Policy Director
Progressive Massachusetts
