Authorizes veterinarians to provide free veterinary care services to individuals in shelters as self-instructional coursework to receive credit for their continuing education requirement.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1945
SPONSOR: Rosenthal TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to authorizing veterina-
rians to provide free veterinary care services to individuals in shel-
ters to receive mandatory continuing education credit
PURPOSE:
This legislation would allow veterinarians to satisfy a portion of their
continuing education credit requirement by providing free veterinary
care services for pets whose caretakers live in temporary shelters.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one amends paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 6704-a of
the education law by adding a new subparagraph (iii).
Section two establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Veterinarians are required to complete 45 hours of continuing education
every three years. In 2016, New York State passed legislation to allow
veterinarians to receive credit toward this requirement by providing
free spay and neuter services. Domestic violence survivors, people expe-
riencing homelessness and others in the shelter system depend on their
pets for support and companionship to get through difficult times, but
many do not have the resources to pay for veterinary care.
This legislation will permit veterinarians to receive credit for up to
three hours of their continuing education requirement by providing free
services to pets living with their caretakers in temporary shelters.
Such credit would accumulate at the rate of half an hour of continuing
education for each hour of free services. Incentivizing veterinarians to
provide free services to those in need will help keep pets healthy and
ensure their caretakers can continue to enjoy their companionship.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022-23: A.7903 - Referred to Higher Education; S.7608 - Referred to
Higher Education
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the State.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
90 days.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1945
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 14, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to authorizing veterina-
rians to provide free veterinary care services to individuals in shel-
ters to receive mandatory continuing education credit
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 6704-a of the
2 education law is amended by adding a new subparagraph (iii) to read as
3 follows:
4 (iii) Self-instructional coursework may include the provision of free
5 veterinary care services to individuals receiving temporary housing
6 assistance, which shall include but not be limited to, a family shelter,
7 a shelter for adults, a hotel providing temporary emergency shelter, an
8 emergency apartment, a domestic violence shelter, a runaway and homeless
9 youth shelter, or a safe house for refugees, provided that such services
10 be administered at practices, facilities and properties that are appro-
11 priately equipped and staffed to provide such services. The department
12 may offset up to three hours of the requisite number of hours of contin-
13 uing education required pursuant to this paragraph, at a rate of one-
14 half of one hour of continuing education for each hour of free veteri-
15 nary care services.
16 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
17 have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00740-01-5
