S.1029: The Vaccine Bill That Trades One Mandate for One thing Worse – The Washington Customary
During the March 4th hearing on S.897, a bill that removed the religious exemption from measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, Senator Shane Martin hinted that a bill allowing personal exemptions for vaccines would be filed.
Before the vote was taken on S.897, Senator Billy Garrett said that he agreed with Martin and would help work on filing legislation that addressed personal exemptions:
This is the same inside baseball move Janis Price discussed in her article entitled, Fast-Tracked and Funded or Political Theater? Following the Money and Politics Behind the MMR Bill. Did South Carolina’s Senate move an extremely-left bill sponsored by one lone democrat (Sen. Margie Bright Matthews) to defeat it, add a feather in their cap for election season, and tee-up the medical freedom community to accept a compromise?
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On March 18, 2026, Senator Billy Garrett introduced S.1029, a bill that amends South Carolina’s laws on contagious and infectious diseases and was referred on the same day to the Senate Medical Affairs Committee. At first glance, the bill seems like a win as it removes state vaccine requirements for private schools and private childcare facilities. However, if you read the fine print, those removals are replaced with an alarming power dynamic that is dictated by the South Carolina Public Health Department (DPH) and private schools.
The Private School Loophole
While S.1029 removes private schools and private childcare facilities from state vaccine mandates, this bill explicitly gives those private institutions the authority to create their own vaccine mandates as a condition of admission of enrollment.
There is no requirement in this bill for private schools or private childcare facilities to accept any form of vaccine exemptions. That means a private school in South Carolina could require every vaccine on the schedule and deny your child admission with zero legal recourse under state law.
Related Post: Fast-Tracked and Funded or Political Theater? Following the Money and Politics Behind the MMR Bill
Under current law, exemption processes apply to both public and private schools. S.1029 strips that protection from families who choose private education. The existing statutory medical, religious, and personal exemption processes would apply only to public school mandates going forward. Private institutions get to make up their own rules, and your family has no guaranteed right to push back.
What About the Proposed Personal Exemption?
S.1029 does add a new personal vaccine exemption for children attending public schools and public childcare. A parent or guardian could obtain a personal exemption certificate from their local health department.
While this seems like a decent provision, it would not be that effective. South Carolina’s existing religious exemption is already written broadly. According to current DPH rule, a Certificate of Religious Exemption may be granted to any student whose parent or guardian signs a statement saying that one or more immunizations conflicts with their religious beliefs. That criteria is already fairly easy to meet.
The personal exemption addition does not come close to outweighing what this bill takes away on the private school side.
DPH Wields All the Power
The most alarming part of S.1029 is that it significantly expands the Department of Public Health’s authority. The bill gives the DPH “general direction and supervision” over vaccine exemptions statewide and grants new rule-making authority over those exemptions. That means the law allowing you to opt out of vaccine requirements would be set by an overly bureaucratic, administrative agency.
Senator Margie Bright Matthews (left) and Senator Billy Garrett (right) during the Senate Medical Affairs Subcommittee hearing on S.897, March 4th, 2026. [Alaina Moore]
To make matters worse, S.1029 specifies that during a declared public health emergency, the DPH may isolate or quarantine children enrolled at private schools or childcare facilities who have vaccine exemptions and have been diagnosed with or exposed to the relevant disease. While this code already exists in several areas of S.C. Code Title 44, Chapter 4 (and we have spent years advocating against), why does it need to be spelled out again and in the specific case of children?
The Bottom Line
Once again, our legislature is packaging what they claim to be good legislation while quietly removing the rights and freedoms South Carolina families are actively using today.
S.1029 is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It creates a scenario where private schools and childcare facilities can discriminate against children based on their vaccination status with no checks, expands state bureaucratic authority over exemptions for public school families, and adds quarantine language that is redundant at best and concerning in its intent at worst.
This bill is currently sitting in the Senate Medical Affairs Committee and waiting to be scheduled for a hearing. Now is the time to act. Contact committee members and ask them to oppose S.1029.
Special thanks to the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) and their extremely detailed analysis on S.1029. You can read their full bill breakdown in their advocacy portal HERE.
Article posted with permission from Palmetto State Watch