Senate committee advances bill to implement Proposition 129 creating veterinary professional associate role

The Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee moved House Bill 1285 to the committee of the whole with a favorable recommendation, advancing statutory steps to implement Proposition 129 and create the new veterinary professional associate (VPA) role in Colorado.

Senator Kipp, a bill sponsor, told the committee that "the passage of proposition 129, the state of Colorado will become the first in the nation, in fact, the first in the entire world, to create a new position in the veterinary workforce, the veterinary professional associate." Sponsors and multiple witnesses said the bill is intended to supply statutory detail that the ballot language left vague and to give the State Board of Veterinary Medicine (SBVM) under the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) clearer statutory direction as it writes rules and scopes of practice.

The bill matters because it attempts to clarify training, supervision and accreditation standards before the board completes rulemaking. The deadline for the board to complete rules for the VPA was stated in testimony as…