Governor Peter Shumlin discusses where legislation stands as the Legislature tries to wrap up the current session.

House and Senate negotiators have reached agreement on a compromise bill dealing with the state's mandatory childhood immunization law, but there are a number of people on both sides of the debate who aren't pleased with the compromise.

A House-Senate conference committee is trying to bridge a strong difference of opinion between the two chambers on what is one of the most emotional issues of the session: Exemptions to the state's mandatory childhood immunization law.

After several hours of debate, the House last night rejected an effort to eliminate the philosophical exemption to the state's mandatory childhood immunization law. The vote on the amendment was 93 to 36.

The House Health Care committee has voted not to follow the lead of the Senate and eliminate the philosophical exemption to Vermont's mandatory childhood immunization law. Instead, the panel has adopted a plan to provide more education to parents about the benefits of immunization.

Closing an exemption to the state's childhood immunization law has become one of the most controversial bills of the session. Now a new compromise to the legislation is being criticized by both supporters and opponents of the bill.

The Vermont Senate has given preliminary approval to a bill that would end the philosophical exemption that allows families to skip childhood immunizations for their children.

One of the most controversial bills of the 2012 session will soon be on the Senate floor for a vote. The legislation would make it more difficult for parents to have their children exempted from the state's mandatory immunization law.

Supporters of a bill that aims to raise childhood vaccine rates are concerned that Vermont's rate of unvaccinated kids is growing, causing a public health concern. But opponents of the bill say parents, not the state, should decide whether to vaccinate a child.

Parents in Vermont have a legal right not to get their kids vaccinated, and the number of parents opting out has risen since 2007.