Written for The Texas Observer legislative blog "Floor Pass."
Just an hour before the Legislature’s midnight deadline for passing House bills out of the lower chamber, as lightning flashed ominously outside the Capitol, tonight’s debate took a brief and sudden turn back to 2007 when the human papillomavirus and its vaccine dominated the state’s business.
Rep. Toni Rose’s House Bill 1340, allowing children 14 years and up to legally consent to their own immunizations, almost passed on a voice vote without a notice from the floor. But by the time Rose, a Dallas Democrat, offered an amendment to include kids in Texas Juvenile Justice Department custody, the words “immunization” and “minor” attracted some attention. Read more.