This article was originally printed in the May/June 2025 issue of the California Veterinarian magazine.
On April 15–17, the California Veterinary Medical Board (CVMB) and its Multidisciplinary Advisory Committee (MDC) held their regular quarterly meetings at the CVMB’s headquarters in Sacramento. The CVMA’s Executive Director Dan Baxter and Director of Regulatory Affairs Dr. Grant Miller attended these meetings and commented on various agenda items affecting the veterinary profession.
The three-day session opened with the MDC’s April 16 meeting, which was focused largely on potential legislative and regulatory initiatives being contemplated by the CVMB. Among other items, the MDC passed the following motions:
To recommend that the CVMB amend certain sections of the California Business and Professions Code relating to the so-called “owner exemption” to the prohibition on the unlicensed practice of veterinary medicine, largely limiting that exemption to livestock and food animals.
To recommend that the CVMB adopt regulatory text refining the requirements attending to “alternate route” pathways for registered veterinary technicians.
To recommend that the CVMB adopt a legislative proposal to increase the CVMB’s fee structure to ensure its continuing solvency and vitality.
To recommend that the CVMB adopt a legislative proposal that would ensure appropriate attention is given to cases involving the unlicensed practice of veterinary medicine.
The CVMB itself met on April 17 and 18. At those meetings, the CVMB passed motions adopting the MDC’s first, third, and fourth recommendations listed above (with additional amendments to the first), but deferred action on the second recommendation, directing the MDC to conduct a further assessment of specified sections of the proposed regulatory text.
In addition, the CVMB discussed several recently introduced legislative bills directly relevant to veterinary medicine and animal welfare, taking official positions on many of them. Those positions include the following:
SB 602 (Cortese) Veterinarians: veterinarian-client-patient relationship — CVMB Supports, If Amended
SB 687 (Ochoa Bogh) Chiropractors: animal chiropractic practitioners — CVMB Opposes
AB 867 (Lee) Veterinary medicine: animal declawing — CVMB Opposes
AB 1458 (Wallis) Animal physical therapy — CVMB Opposes
In addition to the above, the CVMB took a “support” position on AB 1502, one of the so-called “sunset review” bills (this one applying to the CVMB itself) periodically introduced to assess the performance and continuing existence of regulatory boards sitting within the Department of Consumer Affairs.
Finally, the CVMB opted to take no position on AB 516, a CVMA co-sponsored bill authored by Assemblymember Ash Kalra clarifying that registered veterinary technicians and veterinary assistants are legally authorized to perform any task that is not explicitly prohibited by law.
The CVMA appreciates its continuing positive working relationship with the CVMB and the MDC.
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