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Read. Follow. Verify.West Virginia Bill 4947 allows religious, conscientious, and personal exemptions from mandatory immunizations for state employees, students, and children
Last action · January 29, 2026: To House Health and Human ResourcesSponsors: Laura Kimble and 10 others
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What This Bill Proposed
House Bill 4947 permits state employees, school children, and higher education students to be exempt from mandated immunizations upon presenting a notarized certification stating a religious, conscientious, or personal objection. The measure prohibits employers from penalizing or discriminating against employees who exercise this exemption. Additionally, it establishes exemption rights for college, university, and vocational-technical school applicants and students.
Residents, state workers, and students gain the legal right to opt out of state-mandated vaccines based on personal, conscientious, or religious beliefs without facing employment penalties or denial of school enrollment.
- West Virginia historically maintained strict school immunization requirements with limited exceptions, generally prohibiting religious or philosophical exemptions prior to legislative proposals of this nature. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
State employees
State workers gain the right to opt out of employer-mandated immunizations using a notarized personal, conscientious, or religious objection without facing workplace penalties or discrimination.
School children and parents
Parents and legal guardians can exempt children from compulsory school and child care immunization requirements by submitting a notarized certification.
Higher education students
Adult students and minor students' guardians can secure exemptions from college and vocational-technical school immunization mandates.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is eligible to receive an exemption from mandatory immunizations under this bill?
What documentation is required to claim an exemption?
Can employers punish workers who choose not to get vaccinated under this bill?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
4 actions- Jan 29, 2026HouseCommitteeTo House Health and Human Resources
- Jan 29, 2026HouseIntroducedIntroduced in House
- Jan 29, 2026HouseCommitteeTo Health and Human Resources then Judiciary
- Jan 29, 2026HouseIntroducedFiled for introduction
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Broadening Immunization Exemptions Beyond Medical Reasons
The legislation expands current West Virginia law—which previously limited non-medical exemptions or relied strictly on physician-certified medical contraindications—to include personal and conscientious objections.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.wvlegislature.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy85Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz60Current news / social attention level
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