Representative Kerri Cunningham said Montana is out of step with other states because public schools stopped forwarding aggregate immunization and exemption counts to DPHHS in 2021. The bill directs the governing authority of schools to file an annual report with de‑identified, aggregate figures limited to counts of enrolled students, exemptions (merged medical and religious for anonymity), fully vaccinated students, and conditional enrollments.

Cunningham cited Montana Code Annotated 20‑5‑403 as the statutory basis for school collection of immunization data and invoked the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) as a constraint the bill was written to respect. “Passing of this bill would enable DPHHS to once again collect anonymous, what the bill calls de‑identified, and combined what the bill calls aggregate information on immunizations and exemptions,” Cunningham said.

Representative Gillette questioned whether the data would be redundant with existing immunization registries that healthcare providers use to record shots; Representative Nave asked whether “any school” in the bill language meant private schools would be required to report. Supporters including Representative Zephyr argued department access to aggregated data is important to detect disease trends and potential outbreaks. The committee recommended the bill do pass on second reading; the clerk recorded 78 ayes and 22 noes.