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Committee adopts amendment and lays over bill to modernize Minnesota veterinary-practice rules
Summary
The committee adopted an amendment to House File 3718, which would modernize the Veterinary Practice Act by updating definitions, formalizing telemedicine, expanding board membership and creating a prescription repository for animal medications; testimony highlighted rural veterinary shortages and the bill was laid over pending fiscal details.
Co-chair Representative Anderson moved House File 3718, a bill to modernize Minnesota’s Veterinary Practice Act, and the committee adopted the A1 amendment by voice vote. The bill was then laid over for further consideration pending fiscal information.
Dr. Pam Johnson, executive director of the Minnesota Board of Veterinary Medicine, testified the bill updates statutory definitions (including telemedicine, teletriage and physical rehabilitation), expands the board from seven to nine members, establishes continuing-education and discipline standards for veterinary technicians and clarifies remote-supervision authority for technicians. The bill also would create a prescription-repository program for donated animal medications modeled after the human program enacted in 2019.
Brittany Johnson, speaking via Zoom for the Minnesota Farmers Union, said expanded technician scope is important to address shortages of large-animal veterinarians in rural Minnesota; she described cases in which producers could not find prompt veterinary care for lambing and other large-animal needs.
Committee members said the bill responds to workforce pressures in rural areas and expressed interest in moving the measure once fiscal questions are resolved. Co-chair Anderson recommended the bill be laid over; the committee agreed to wait for a fiscal note before additional action.
