Lawmaker files bill to ban health departments from promoting vaccines

Health departments all across the state could be prohibited from spending money to promote vaccine usage.

HB367 by Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, would prohibit governmental entities from spending public funds to promote the use of vaccines to the public.

“Alabama taxpayers should not be forced to fund pharmaceutical advertising,” Butler told APR in a statement. “For far too long, public dollars have been funneled into pharmaceutical marketing campaigns, handing over millions to promote corporate interests. I am committed to stopping this misuse of taxpayer funds. HB367 puts a stop to these wasteful and unethical handouts. No taxpayer should be forced to subsidize Big Pharma’s marketing while these companies rake in billions in profit. This bill ensures that public money is used for the public good—not to boost corporate profits.”

The bill carves out an exception for printed materials within a health office setting—granted the literature includes information about potential adverse effects of the vaccines.

The bill does not prevent public health departments from promoting vaccines through unpaid means such as news articles.

Butler said he does not believe promoting vaccines serves a legitimate public health interest.

“To serve a true public health interest it would need to provide a list of the many documented adverse effects and mention that they are shielded from liability,” Butler said. “They need to fund their own advertising not the taxpayers.”

The bill comes a week after Health Freedom Alabama released data from a public records request that ADPH spent $18.6 million between 2019 and 2024 to advertise vaccines. The group painted the expenditures as “government collusion with big pharma.”