2023 California Legislative Update

The California legislative cycle has passed its halfway point with surviving Senate bills now being reviewed by Assembly committees, and vice versa. Unlike most previous sessions, a multitude of bills are still active in the legislative process. The CVMA’s legislative team is participating in frequent meetings to ensure that the voice of the profession is heard by lawmakers and other stakeholders. The CVMA’s lobbyists are also working hard to meet with legislative staff and committee consultants to address issues with each bill.

Below is a summary of the CVMA’s priority bills and their current status.

AB 814 (Lowenthal) Veterinary medicine: animal physical rehabilitation.

CVMA Position: Oppose

This measure will permit physical therapists to open their own practices to provide animal physical rehabilitation services to all species of animals by veterinary referral. The bill is an attempt to override current state law by proposing that direct veterinarian supervision be removed in practices run by physical therapists and avoid minimum standards required of veterinary practices by inclusion of a licensee manager and other consumer protection provisions. The bill does not address access to veterinary care as the sponsors have contended, but instead introduces a scope of practice creep by medical professionals with no formal licensing curriculum in animals. This would be unsafe for animals and deeply insulting to the veterinary profession, and if allowed would pave the way for incursions by other healing arts professions. In addition, the Veterinary Medical

Board (VMB) has estimated a $1.2 million implementation cost if the bill passes. Since the VMB’s operating budget is not augmented by the general fund and comes solely from licensing and permit fees, the CVMA is concerned about how this cost will be covered.

The CVMA has formed coalition opposition to AB 814, which includes the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Sacramento Valley Veterinary Medical Association, the San Diego County Veterinary Medical Association, and the Southern California Veterinary Medical Association. The CVMA is actively lobbying members of the California Senate to oppose this bill and has sent multiple action alerts to members urging them to directly express their concerns to California legislators.

Status: This bill is scheduled for hearing in the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee on July 10.

AB 1399 (Friedman/Lowenthal): Veterinary medicine: veterinarian-client-patient relationship: telehealth.

CVMA Position: Oppose, Unless Amended

This bill will change California’s current veterinarian-client-patient relationship (VCPR) law to permit a VCPR to be established solely via electronic means. It will circumvent the current requirement for a veterinarian to physically examine an animal patient or make medically appropriate and timely visits to the premises where the animals are kept in order to prescribe medication and treat patients.

In the late spring, both the CVMA and the VMB pivoted from “Oppose” to “Oppose, unless amended” positions, seeking amendments that would protect California’s animals and consumers from potential issues that can arise from the telemedicine practice model. Some of those issues include overuse and misuse of antibiotics and other medications, perpetual renewals of medications with no required lab work or in-person examinations, the potential for doctorshopping, and the possibility that a pet could potentially go for years without being physically examined by a veterinarian. The CVMA’s proposed amendments can be viewed at cvma.net in the 2023 Legislative Update in the Advocacy section.

Status: This bill is scheduled for hearing in the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee on July 10.

AB 1232 (Connolly) Department of Food and Agriculture: resilient and higher welfare grant program.

CVMA Position: No Position—Write Letter of Concern

This bill would have tasked the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) with creating and implementing a grant program to support the implementation of higher standards of care and more climate-smart farming practices. As originally written, the bill would have redefined how antibiotics are administered to food-producing animals.

The CVMA reached out to the Author of this bill with a letter of concern requesting that language pertaining to antibiotic use be amended to align with current California law. The CVMA is pleased to report that the Author committed to accepting the requested amendments; however, the bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and thus will not continue in the legislative process this year.

Status: Held in committee—bill will not progress this year.

SB 669 (Cortese) Veterinarians: veterinarian-client-patient relationship.

CVMA Position: Support

This bill will permit veterinarians to utilize registered veterinary technicians (RVTs) as agents in establishing the veterinarian-clientpatient relationship (VCPR) for the specific purposes of administering prophylactic vaccinations and/or providing preventative procedures for parasite control.

The CVMA has extensively reviewed and discussed RVT licensing curriculum and recognizes the expanded ability of RVTs to provide these services to assist veterinarians in establishing their VCPRs with clients to provide vaccinations and parasite control. This measure will help to improve access to veterinary care by giving veterinarians authority to more extensively utilize RVTs in practice.

Status: This bill is awaiting review in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

SB 373 (Menjivar) Board of Behavioral Sciences, Board of Psychology, and Veterinary Medical Board: licensees’ and registrants’ addresses.

CVMA Position: Support

This bill, when originally written, sought to prohibit the Board of Behavioral Sciences and the Board of Psychology from disclosing on the internet the full address of record of certain licensees and registrants, limiting those boards to disclosing only the city, state, county, and ZIP Code of the address of record of those licensees and registrants.

The CVMA contacted the Author and requested that the Veterinary Medical Board (VMB) be added to the list of boards that must limit their public disclosure of licensee contact information. Many house call and ranch call veterinarians base their business at their home; as a result, some clinicians have experienced stray animals being left on their doorsteps, while others have reported angry clients coming to their home. In an effort to protect these veterinarians and their families, Senator Menjivar agreed to include veterinary licensees among the healthcare professionals whose contact information will be limited.

The CVMA wishes to thank Senator Menjivar as well as the VMB for their efforts in providing this important protection to veterinary licensees.

Status: This bill is awaiting review in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

More information about these bills, along with CVMA position letters and fact sheets, is available on cvma.net in the Advocacy section under “2023 Legislative Update.”

CVMA Legislative Action Center

For specific information on bills or to track CVMA-monitored bills through the legislative process, visit the CVMA’s online Legislative Action Center in the Advocacy section of cvma.net.