On Fridays our New York legislators are supposed to be in their district offices, so please call the Senators on the Senate Health Committee  today at the numbers below and ask them to oppose the four terrible vaccine bills the Assembly has already passed. 

Despite Gov. Hochul's announcement yesterday that the budget negotiations are over, Speaker Heastie today is saying they are not done. That is good. The longer they take to finish the budget, the less time they will have for everything else, especially contentious bills like these. 

S9893, The mandatory vaccine database bill will record who has and who has not had shots.

S5724, Mandates the hepatitis B shot to attend college in New York. 

S9604, Eliminates the right of people injured by a vaccine to sue medical workers who give shots.  

S5724, Mandates the hepatitis B shot to attend college in New York. 

TAKE ACTION

We need to keep up the pressure. We want as many people as possible to call all the members of the Senate Health Committee, especially the Democrats, and let them know that these bills are all extremely bad ideas. Talking points are below.

Here is the contact information for the Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins, and the members of the Senate Health committee, beginning with Chair Gustavo Rivera. 

When you call, ask to speak to the Senator, but you are almost certain to speak to a staffer.

Going through the talking points for each bill will probably take a bit of time, so you will probably need to make several calls.

Be polite.

Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Senate Majority Leader, D-35, Yonkers, (914) 423-4031, Albany  (518) 455-2585, LOB 907, Albany, NY 12447

Gustavo Rivera, Chair, D-33, Bronx, District (718) 933-2034. Albany (518) 455-3395, Capitol 502c, Albany, NY 12447

Sam Sutton, D-22, Brooklyn, (718) 253-2015, Albany (518) 455-2754, LOB 809, Albany, NY 12447

Zellnor Myrie, D-20, Brooklyn, (718) 284-4700, Albany (518) 455-2410, LOB 806, Albany, NY 12447

Kevin Parker, D-21, Brooklyn, (718) 629-6401, Albany (518) 455-2580, Capitol 504c, Albany, NY 12447

Robert Jackson, D-31, Manhattan, (212) 544-0173, Albany (518) 455-2041, LOB 306, Albany, NY 12447

Christopher Ryan, D-50, Syracuse, (315) 428-7632, Albany (518) 455-3511, LOB 946, Albany, NY 12447

Lea Webb, D-52, D-52, Binghamton, (607) 773-8771, Albany (518) 455-2170, LOB 848, Albany, NY 12447

Samra Brouk, D-55, Rochester, (585) 223-1800, Albany (518) 455-2215, LOB 812, Albany, NY 12447

Kristen Gonzalez, D-59, NYC, (718) 765-6674, Albany (518) 455-3250, LOB 817, Albany, NY 12447

Rachel May, D-48, Syracuse, (315) 478-8745, Albany (518) 455-2838, LOB 803, Albany, NY 12447

Patrick Gallivan, R-60, Buffalo suburbs, (716) 656-8544, Albany (518) 455-3471, LOB 311, Albany, NY 12447

Steven Rhoads, R-5, Nassau, LOB 311, (516) 882-0630, Albany (518) 455-3161, LOB 513, Albany, NY 12447

Jack Martins, R-7, Nassau, (516) 922-1811, Albany (518) 455-2677, LOB 608, Albany, NY 12447

Jake Ashby, R-43, Capitol region, (518) 371-2751, Albany (518) 455-2381, LOB 517, Albany, NY 12447

Dan Stec, R-45, Plattsburgh, LOB 408, (518) 743-0968, Albany (518) 455-2811, LOB 408, Albany, NY 12447

S9893 The mandatory vaccine database bill. 

• This is the “RFKJR Act” is wise for the New York Senate Health Committee to pass a bill with a name that mocks the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
• This bill eliminates the right of New Yorkers to be asked if they want their vaccine information to be recorded in the state adult vaccine database. It is one more step toward mandatory inclusion of people’s private medical information in the database.
• The database is primarily a surveillance tool for coercive enforcement action which we saw mobilized during the COVID debacle and would be used to enforce new mandates such as the hepatis b mandate for college students described below.
• This bill has caused alarm in the immigrant community given the potential that it could be used to locate people for enforcement action. Senator Rivera passed a bill (S837, 2023) regarding these immigration concerns, but state law cannot prevent federal agencies from getting state information, especially if the data is subpoenaed.

Click here to send messages to your Assemblymember and State Senator telling them that you oppose the” RFKJR Act” A765/S9893

https://www.votervoice.net/AUTISMACTION/Campaigns/136686/Respond

S5724 Mandates the hepatitis B shot to attend college in New York. 

• Hepatitis b is transmitted by sexual contact and sharing needles. There is no way for it to be casually transmitted in a college setting.
• It is illegal in New York to prevent a person with an active case of Hepatitis b from attending college, but a healthy person who has not had hepatitis b shot in the time frame set by the state could be excluded.
• No other state (only the District of Columbia) requires all college students to get the hepatitis b shot.
• This mandate applies overwhelmingly to adults who should be making their own health decisions in consultation with their healthcare providers, not as the result of a coercive necessity to pursue an education.  So much for “my body, my choice.”
• It applies to online students as well as in-person. This is insane.
• Assembly Health Chair Amy Paulin bragged about passing this bill on her Facebook page, but she received over 600 negative comments on that post, and we were unable to find even one comment supporting her bill.

Click here to send messages to your Assemblymember and State Senator telling them that you oppose mandatory hepatitis shots for college students. A2078/S5724

https://www.votervoice.net/AUTISMACTION/Campaigns/136729/Respond

S9604 Eliminates the right of people injured by a vaccine to sue medical workers who give shots.  

• This bill proposes a blatant violation of the New York State Constitution, Article 1, Section 2, “Trial by jury in all cases in which it has heretofore been guaranteed by constitutional provision shall remain inviolate forever;”. The fact that the bill was introduced proves that the right to sue a medical worker for a vaccine injury is “heretofore guaranteed.”
• No alternative remedy is proposed to supplant the anticipated elimination of the right to go to court, which effectively transfers 100% of the risk of a vaccine injury to the patients and the patient’s family.
• The fact that this bill is even being considered should give Senators pause if vaccines are as safe as claimed. Medical workers are legally responsible for every other product they administer. Why not vaccines?
• No other medical product has a liability shield under New York law.
• This bill is intended for vaccines approved by the State but not the federal government, and injured people would still be able to sue in federal court. Injured people could also sue the vaccine manufacturer in state or federal court if the vaccine is not recommended by the federal government.

Click here to send messages to your Assemblymember and State Senator telling them that you oppose losing your Constitutional right to justice just to promote the goals of the vaccine industry.

https://www.votervoice.net/AUTISMACTION/Campaigns/136727/Respond

S3958a requires campers in summer camps to be current with the mandatory vaccine schedule. 

• First, is there any need for this bill? Are there demonstrable outbreaks in summer camps?
• Only one other state, California, requires all campers to be up-to-date with the school schedule.
• This bill just adds to the needless and unjust discrimination against people with religious beliefs that preclude some or all vaccinations since New York became in 2019 one of only 5 states that do not allow religious exemptions.
• Medical exemptions are technically allowed in New York, but they are nearly impossible to get, as shown by New York having the lowest rate of medical exemptions of any state according to CDC.
• This bill would also place a considerable administrative burden on camps.

Click here to send messages to your Assemblymember and State Senator telling them that you oppose mandatory shots for summer