Veterinary Medicine Notches Major Successes at Texas Legislature

(UPDATED VERSION OF THE JUNE TEXAS VETERINARIAN MAGAZINE ARTICLE)

Veterinary Medicine Notches Major Successes at Texas Legislature
The 2025 Texas Legislative Session Enacted Several Exciting New Funding Measures While Veterinarians Fought Off Major Threats
By Trent Hightower, JD, Director of Government Relations/General Counsel

The 89^th Session of the Texas Legislature came to a close on June 2. It turned out to be an incredibly successful session for veterinary medicine in Texas. While the governor has until June 22 to sign or veto any bills the legislature sent to him, TVMA can boast numerous big wins in the state’s biennial budget and successful efforts to kill or amend bad legislation.

THE BEST DEFENSE IS A GOOD OFFENSE

Strong Advocacy Prevents Bad National Trends from Taking Root in Texas

In February, more than 70 TVMA members made the trip to Austin to advocate against bills we’ve seen in other states that would allow for a fully virtual veterinarian-client-patient relationship (VCPR), create a midlevel practitioner designation in veterinary medicine and give human chiropractors direct access to animal patients. TVMA can boast wins on all three counts.

After a chiropractor direct access bill advanced out of a House committee in 2023, TVMA established a working group to look at the issue in-depth and prepare for the 2025 session. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the workgroup, extensive relationship-building between TVMA members and the 2023 bill’s author and other key lawmakers, and a full-court press against the bill during the TVMA Capitol Visitation Day, we prevented this bad legislation from even being filed this session. This was a huge victory for veterinary medicine in Texas, and it would not have been possible without strong engagement from veterinarians. TVMA will remain vigilant, however, as advocates continue to chip away at veterinary supervision requirements state by state. Tennessee and New Hampshire are the latest to give chiropractors direct access.

The legislative team also expected a midlevel practitioner bill to be filed after advocates for the concept notched recent successes in Colorado and Arkansas. While no bill materialized here, TVMA members laid groundwork with each member of the legislature to educate them on why the midlevel practitioner model is bad for Texans and their animals. Additionally, the legislature overwhelmingly heard there is no current data on the workforce needs of Texas and that more study of that issue is needed. The work done this session will serve us well in future sessions when midlevel practitioner advocates file a bill here.

PITCHING A SHUT-OUT

The Virtual VCPR: Dead for Now

SB 1442 by Sen. Nathan Johnson and HB 3364 by Rep. Janie Lopez would have allowed a VCPR to be established electronically without an in-person examination or any other restrictions. TVMA made a strong push against virtual VCPR legislation as five TVMA member veterinarians testified against the bill in committees in both the house and senate. The House Agriculture and Livestock Committee followed the lead of California, Arizona and Florida by advancing the bill out of committee; members of the Senate Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee were more skeptical.

The senate amended the bill to simply require the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (TBVME) to conduct a study on the use of veterinary telemedicine in Texas. This bill made it through the senate with TVMA’s support but was not taken up by the house. Meanwhile, the house version stalled in the House Calendars Committee, in no small part due to the almost 300 messages TVMA members sent to the committee asking them not to advance it. In the final days of session, the virtual VCPR concept was briefly amended onto another piece of legislation in the house, but thanks to TVMA’s strong relationships and legislative efforts, the amendment was removed days later. With that, the virtual VCPR failed to pass this session, though it will almost certainly arise again in the future.

MAKING THE BIG PLAYS WHEN IT MATTERS

A New Dawn for TBVME and Sunset

Last session, TBVME was temporarily attached to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) following almost a decade of negative findings by the Texas Sunset Commission. After several senators praised the attachment as a resounding success in a hearing last summer, TDLR made a series of recommendations for improving the agency’s operations further as it moves toward its August 31, 2027, detachment.

These reforms became SB 2155 by Sen. Charles Perry, which TVMA supported after he incorporated several key changes we requested. SB 2155 has passed both chambers and awaits the governor’s signature. The reforms include:

Process improvements to reduce red tape and procedural hurdles that slow down complaint resolution
Streamlined processes for TBVME to issue cease-and-desist orders for unlicensed practice
A new facility license to address situations in which non-veterinarians or corporate owners violate TBVME rules. Currently, TBVME can only discipline individual licensees who may not be the parties responsible for the violation. If passed, this provision will not go into effect until 2027, and TVMA will participate fully in the lengthy rulemaking process ahead to implement the new law.

For more details on SB 2155 and TVMA’s role, see the June 2025 issue of the Texas Veterinarian.

On a related positive note, due to TBVME’s progress in improving its operations and TVMA’s support of the reform package above, another bill passed to move TBVME’s next full sunset review from 2027 to 2033. This is important because full sunset reviews can expose a profession’s governing statutes to extensive attacks from many interested parties. The agency’s detachment from TDLR remains on schedule for August 31, 2027.

TVMA Work on Other Bills of Note

In addition to the major legislation above, TVMA engaged on several other pieces of legislation this session by:

Testifying against HB 4777 by Rep. Lulu Flores, which would have entitled pet owners to non-economic damages if their pet is injured or killed while in the care of a boarding facility. The legislation was left pending in committee and did not pass.
Testifying against SB 119 by Sen. Bob Hall, which would have required labeling of any meat products in which mRNA vaccines were used. This bill also was left in committee.
Meeting with Rep. Salman Bhojani’s staff to explain concerns with his HB 2653, which would ban cat declaw procedures in Texas. The bill did not receive a committee hearing.
Working with Rep. Claudia Ordaz during the 2023 session on a veterinary exception in her bill creating a criminal cause of action for negligent cruelty to animals. Rep. Ordaz’s bill did not pass in 2023, but she included TVMA’s exception language when she refiled it this year as HB 285, which was passed into law. As enacted, veterinarians remain subject to TBVME disciplinary action for negligent conduct but cannot be prosecuted criminally.

SOMETIMES A GAME IS DECIDED BY INCHES…OR DOLLARS

Funding for Rural Veterinarian Incentive Program (RVIP), Veterinary Workforce Study, Veterinary Emergency Team (VET) and TBVME Go Down to the Wire and Win!

TVMA brought together a coalition of Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University, the Texas Southwestern Cattle Raisers’ Association, the Texas Cattle Feeders’ Association and the Texas Farm Bureau to ask for $5 million in funding for the Rural Veterinarian Incentive Program (RVIP). Thanks to the leadership of freshman Rep. Caroline Fairly of Amarillo and Rep. Stan Kitzman of Pattison, the house approved $5 million for the biennium in its version of the budget. When the senate placed the funding in a portion of its budget where funding usually is tentative, the coalition set to work speaking to members of the budget conference committee charged with ironing out differences in the two chambers’ budgets. TVMA is very excited to report that the house version prevailed. For the first time since its creation in the 1990s, the RVIP will be properly funded and be able to fully leverage its potential to place veterinarians in rural counties across Texas. Stay tuned for more information on eligibility requirements and the application process, which should kick off quickly once the appropriated funds are in place.

TVMA is also pleased to announce that the state’s budget includes its request to set aside $200,000 of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) budget for a veterinary workforce study, something the state hasn’t undertaken since 2016. With many pieces of bad legislation, including the midlevel practitioner and virtual VCPR, being pushed as solutions to claims of massive veterinary shortages, the state lacks current data, especially in light of the new Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine and larger class sizes at Texas A&M. Like the RVIP funding, the workforce study funding was approved in conference committee after the house appropriated funds for it while the senate did not. Unfortunately, while TVMA’s request for the study included a directive that THECB investigate the status and impact of veterinary technician programs across the state, those directives were removed from the final language in the budget, so THECB will look into veterinarian workforce issues only. TVMA will continue to explore avenues for including veterinary technicians in this important discussion.

In another first, the state appropriated $5 million for the biennium for the Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team (VET). In the past, the VET’s entire budget has come from the Texas A&M University budget, without any funds appropriated directly from the state. This major investment at the state level will greatly enhance VET’s ability to respond to the wide range of natural disasters that impact our state each year, from hurricanes to wildfires.

Finally, TBVME received funding to add an enforcement module to the licensee database system it implemented last year. Importantly, this was funded in a way that will not require an increase in licensee fees as the initial database outlay required following the 2023 session. Board leaders tell TVMA they expect to be able to reduce license renewal fees next year.

A WHOLE NEW BALLGAME

The 89^th Legislative Session Brought Lots of New Faces and Fewer Veterinarian Lawmakers to the Capitol

All of the successes above were accomplished against the backdrop of significant changes to the makeup of the Texas House. With 17 house incumbents losing their primary elections last spring and 16 other incumbents not seeking re-election, the chamber’s freshman class accounted for more than one-fifth of all members. This meant the TVMA legislative team and veterinarian advocates had a lot of work to do to educate new members on issues that are important to the profession.

The 33 non-returning members included three veterinarian lawmakers who each had played key roles in advancing TVMA legislative objectives in the past several sessions. That left Rep. Brad Buckley, DVM, as the only veterinarian in the Texas Legislature, and he once again was a fierce advocate for the profession on numerous important pieces of legislation this session. We also lost several members who had been allies of the profession on a variety of topics throughout the years.

VICTORY TAKES A TEAM

Thank you to all the TVMA members who pitched in to defend the profession this session! This includes everyone who came to Austin for Capitol Visitation Day or to testify before a house or senate committee and the hundreds of members who called and emailed their lawmakers at key points throughout session. The many legislative victories TVMA achieved this session would not have been possible without the whole team working together. We are TVMA!