March 12, 2020 – Utah Passes HB455 Through Both Chambers
Utah has passed a bill establishing state certification for CVTs through the House and Senate, now awaiting to be signed into law by the governor. This is a prime example of collaboration between national and state level organizations to elevate credentialing standards around the nation.
Recent Activities Include:
- Establishing and Maintaining Standards in Credentialing
- Successfully opposed bills in Maine and North Carolina that would have established individuals with 8th-grade education and experience to qualify to be Veterinary Technicians.
- Supported bill to establish LVT in Montana.
- Supporting bill to establish state certification for Veterinary Technicians in Utah by providing information on establishing and supportive legislative action.
- Opposed bill that would repeal licensure for Veterinary Technicians, supporting West Virginia and the West Virginia Veterinary Medical Board.
- Defining the Scope of Practice for Veterinary Technicians
- Working with the AAVSB Regulatory Policy Task Force to establish a model regulation document to serve as a guide for future regulation.
- Coordinating with RVTTC (Canadian Veterinary Technician Association) on input for the model regulation document.
- Emphasizing Importance of Title Protection Compliance and Enforcement
- Established a Title Protection Task Force to survey the current state of title protection
- Collecting information on title protection laws around the US.
- Deployed Title Protection survey to characterize title protection compliance and enforcement
- Drafting recommendations for the veterinary field to encourage the establishment of better title protection.
- Creating the Registered Veterinary Nurse Model
- Working legislatively to establish “Registered Veterinary Nurse” in states that meet current credentialing standards and have title protection.
- Current bills include Oklahoma and Ohio.
- Working with several state organizations to aid legislative matters towards credentialing standards.
- Public and Professional Outreach Regarding Our Profession
- Produced #PetsNeedNurseToo video emphasizing the education, credentials, and the expansive role of veterinary technicians and our effort through the VNI.
- Established the VNI Voice (example) to be published in The NAVTA Journal featuring voices within the professional community.
- Advocating for the profession. – NAVTA had several representatives on the AVMA Task Force on Veterinary Technician Utilization. NAVTA will continue to work with the AVMA on the recommendations made by the Task Force.