Public Comments on Oregon Measles Crackdown Nearly Set an All-Time Record

Hundreds of anti-vaxx parents wanted their say.

(Katja Fuhlert / Creative Commons)
By Rachel Monahan

State officials counted 2,109 public testimony and staff documents filed for a Feb. 28 hearing on Oregon House Bill 3063, which would eliminate nonmedical exemptions for childhood vaccines. That's the most people to weigh in for a single hearing on a bill this session—and the second most since the state began cataloging public testimony online. (Chris Lehman, a reporter for KLCC and The Oregonian, first noted the record turnout this week on Twitter.)

The number reflects the massive public pushback against HB 3063 by anti-vaxxers, many of them parents who don't want to immunize their children from common diseases like measles ("Make America Measly Again," WW, March 20, 2019). HB 3063 awaits Legislative Counsel's work on an amendment to give parents more leeway when seeking medical exemptions from vaccines.

The only bill ever to draw more public response for a single hearing? House Bill 2004, in 2017—a rent-control bill that failed that session before being passed in revised form this year.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.