Vaccine Opponents Fail to Qualify their Referendum for the Ballot
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Shannan Velayas (PAN) (916) 271-2867
December 23, 2019
SACRAMENTO, CA – Dr. Richard Pan, State Senator representing the Sacramento area and author of Senate Bill 276 made the following statement in regards to the failure of those opposed to SB 276 to qualify their referendum for the ballot:
“The anti-vaccine extremists who opposed SB276 failed to even qualify their referenda against SB276 and SB714, after declaring the bill to be fascist and communist and invoking Jim Crow and the Holocaust. Despite their violent rhetoric, which incited a physical assault and blood being thrown into the Senate chamber, they failed to make their case to the people of California. Four years ago, they also failed to qualify a referendum against SB277 to abolish non-medical exemptions to school vaccination and failed several lawsuits which resulted in SB277 being constitutionally upheld by a California Appellate court. This small number of privileged extremists are endangering our children and costing taxpayers, but the people of California are standing with the science by supporting SB277 in 2015 and, again this year, SB276, to protect all Californians.”
Shortly after the legislature and the Governor approved passage of SB 276 and SB 714 in September, vaccine opponents filed a proposed statewide referendum, which is the first step to place a measure on the ballot to overturn a law. To qualify for the ballot, proponents needed to collect 623,212 valid signatures from registered voters. The California Secretary of State has indicated that effort has failed: https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/ccrov/pdf/2019/december/19161jk.pdf and https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/ccrov/pdf/2019/december/19160jk.pdf
Senate Bill 276, which will prevent fake medical exemptions and require oversight of the medial exemption process and Senate Bill 714 will be enacted on January 1, 2020.
A study published today in PLOS Medicine examined the effectiveness of Dr. Richard Pan’s 2015 law, Senate Bill 277, which eliminated nonmedical exemptions in the state. The study found that his bill was effective increasing vaccination coverage, especially in the most “high-risk” (low vaccine coverage) settings. The study can be found here: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002994
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Dr. Richard Pan is a parent, small business owner, former UC Davis educator and pediatrician who represents Sacramento, West Sacramento, Elk Grove and unincorporated areas of Sacramento County in the state legislature and is the Chair of the Senate Health Committee. As a legislator, Dr. Pan continues to practice medicine at WellSpace Health Oak Park Community Clinic, pursuing his passion for working with families to build healthier communities.