Veterinary board backs legislative plan to raise statutory fee caps, adopt tiered premises fees

The Medical Device Committee of the California Veterinary Medical Board on March 2025 voted to recommend submitting to the Legislature a proposed amendment to Business and Professions Code section 4905 that would raise statutory fee caps for multiple license and registration types and create a tiered fee structure for veterinary premises.

The committee said the proposal responds to long‑term fund projections that show the board’s reserves falling below its statutory minimum in fiscal years 2029 and 2030, and that earlier fee increases taken by regulation in 2019–2020 disproportionately affected registered veterinary technicians (RVTs). Committee presenters said the proposal staggers increases across multiple years and ties premises fees to full‑time equivalent (FTE) veterinarian counts.

Under the proposal described to the committee, veterinary premises would be tiered by number of FTE veterinarians: small (1–3 veterinarians), medium (4–8) and large (9+). The draft statutory caps in…