Committee adopts amendment and reports bill creating veterinary professional associates

A Florida Senate committee adopted a delete‑all amendment and reported SB796 favorably after two hours of debate and public testimony that divided veterinarians and advocacy groups.

Senator Bradley introduced the amendment, which establishes a new credential, the veterinary professional associate (VPA). Under the amendment, VPAs would hold an approved master’s program in veterinary clinical care, pass a national competency exam and may perform delegated clinical tasks under the responsible supervision of a licensed Florida veterinarian. The amendment prohibits VPAs from prescribing certain drugs or controlled substances and from performing most surgical procedures other than neutering, some dental procedures and closing incisions. It also lengthens telehealth prescription windows for flea and tick products from one month to six months and extends prescriptions for other telehealth‑authorized medications from 14 days to 30 days.

The committee heard opposition from members of the Florida Veterinary Medical Association. Dr. Richard Williams, a FVMA board member and retired practitioner, said existing accredited veterinary technician programs already provide clinical training and argued the proposed VPA role would allow “marginally trained individuals” to make complex diagnoses or prescribe medications, which he said could violate federal law governing animal prescription drugs. “A veterinarian must be involved in each individual patient prescription,” Williams told the committee and urged a no vote.

Rick Sutliff, a licensed Florida veterinarian representing the FVMA, argued the amendment would not solve rural access problems and said recent and planned expansions in veterinary education should help the workforce pipeline. In contrast, Dr. Wayne Jensen, who helped develop the VPA model and spoke in support, said the VPA curriculum includes an academic clinical internship of 540 hours and a national competency exam; he said VPAs would be trained to manage routine care, could lower costs and increase practice capacity.

Committee supporters said the VPA program is optional for practices, leaves liability with supervising veterinarians and would be confined to small‑animal practice. Senators voted to adopt the amendment and later reported SB796, as amended, favorably out of committee.

What’s next: The bill and its amendment were reported favorably; senators said they would continue to refine supervisory language and regulatory implementation as the bill proceeds to later stops.