March 25, 2026 · Agriculture & Natural Resources · 2,264 words · 9 speakers · 56 segments
Good morning. The Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee will come to order on Wednesday, March 25th. Ms. Jackson, please call the roll.
Senator Catlin.
Here.
Senator Henriksen.
Excused.
Senator Kipp.
Here.
Senator Pelton B.
Excused.
Senator Pelton R.
Senator Danielson.
Excused.
Mr. Chair.
Here.
All right, I know the rest of our committee members are just outside. They'll be making their way in, but we have our bill sponsors before us, and so we're ready to go with House Bill 1198 by Senators Cutter and Pelton R. Who would like to start?
Senator Cutter. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, committee, for so nice to be here again. So last year I ran, I don't even remember the number, But we ran a bill to make sure that prescription drugs could be donated in certain circumstances so that they didn't go to waste and people who needed them and maybe couldn't afford them had the opportunity. So we tried to do something in there with veterinary prescriptions, and we were not able to. So in this bill, which Representative McCormick started with her good authority as a veterinarian, we're trying to do some of that. So each year in Colorado, unused and unexpired veterinary meds are destroyed while pet owners struggle to find care. These medications are often critical for treating pain, infections, chronic conditions, and recovery after surgery, and when pets can't access medication, their conditions worsen and suffering increases. Because of the ambiguity in the law, shelters and clinics often disregard safe, unexpired medications. And under current law, vets face uncertainty and liability concerns.
Senator Peltz. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And the other part of this bill has to do with expediting veterinarians that are licensed in other states that come to Colorado and just expediting the process on getting them licensed to practice in Colorado. I think there's nine of my 13 counties are actually in a veterinary desert. We have to go out of county to get anybody to come in. My county is one of them. I have two veterinarians that work with me in my herd, and one of them comes from about 45 miles away. The other one's 85 miles away. so we're just trying to get more veterinarians into the state and kind of help that process and it also applies to vet techs also to help the board of veterinary medicine to come up with rules to expedite this whole process around veterinarians and vet techs and I would appreciate an aye vote on this bill.
Great, thank you so much. Committee members, are there any questions for the bill sponsors?
Senator Catlin. Thank you, Mr. Chair. My question is for you, Senator Pelton. Are you talking about expediting large animal vets or all vets across the board?
Senator Pelton. The bill doesn't really specifically speak to that. I think it would be all veterinarians. My hope would be mainly to emphasize big animal vet. Thank you.
Any other questions? Seeing none, we will move to the witness testimony phase. Both of our witnesses that have signed up are online. Daria McKay and Sarah Warner And then if there anybody else here in person or remote come on up Okay Ms McKay we start with you Whenever you ready please introduce yourself
and then you can begin your testimony. I think you're on mute,
or we're having trouble. Might be on our end. One second. You can't hear her. You try again, Ms. McKay. Hmm. Yeah, we're not hearing you. We're seeing that you're talking though. Ms. Warner, how about we'll start with you and come back to Ms. McKay.
Are you able to hear me?
Yes. Okay, great.
Sarah Werner, Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Oh, I'm sorry. Sarah Werner, Oh yeah, no, I was just going to say, go ahead.
Sarah Werner, Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. My name is Sarah Werner, and I'm the Deputy Director for Policy and Communications with the Division of Professions and Occupations within the Department of Regulatory Agency. DORA is requesting your support for House Bill 26-1198, Access to Veterinary Care. This bill requires the Division to streamline the process for licensure by endorsement and creates a veterinary drug donation program. Streamlining the licensure by endorsement process, which is the process by which licensed veterinarians in other states are able to obtain a license in Colorado, is important to ensure that veterinarians are able to work as quickly as possible. Colorado's veterinary licensure requirements meet national standards, which means that a license from any other state meets Colorado's requirements. Because of this, not all documentation currently required is necessary. Streamlining this process will help to ensure that veterinarians in good standing are able to obtain a license without any possible delay caused by having to find paperwork that is not needed. This bill also creates a veterinary drug donation program. This type of program is currently in place for humans, as mentioned earlier, and has not shown any issues. It makes sense to ensure that unused veterinary pharmaceuticals are also able to be donated to pets in need. Additionally, this bill moves certain provisions currently in the Pharmacy Practice Act to the Veterinary Practice Act. These relocations help to ensure that these provisions are in the proper place in statute, both for licensee awareness and to ensure that any enforcement actions can be taken efficiently and by the board with the correct expertise. It also ensures that veterinarians who are sharing drug stock as permitted by the Veterinary Practice Act do not accidentally run a ball of the Pharmacy Practice Act. We thank Representative McCormick for her work on this bill and her efforts to ensure that our processes are as efficient as possible for both licensees and the division. We hope you join us
supporting House Bill 26-1198. Thank you, Ms. Warner. Okay, Ms. McKay, let's see if it works.
Can you hear me now? Yes. Yay. Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. My name is Daria McKay. I've been working in veterinary medicine for over 20 years. I am a certified veterinary practice manager as well as a registered veterinary technician, and I'm currently the Director of Veterinary Services at Humane Colorado, formerly Dumb Friends League. Humane Colorado operates one of the only subsidized veterinary hospitals in the state, providing care to more than 28,000 community pets last year alone. The demand for our low-cost services far exceed our capacity. Every day, we're forced to turn away families whose pets urgently need care. Today I'm here to speak in support of House Bill 1198. Specifically around the provision for donation of veterinary prescription drugs, I can speak on behalf of our clients, many of which have significant financial constraints and are often stretching every dollar to bring their pets into the clinic I like to give you an example of a recent patient that we saw Molly who was a two dog who came to us with blood in her urine She was eating less and her energy level was also low. After being examined by one of our staff veterinarians, we were suspicious that Molly had a urinary tract infection. The owner approved the recommended treatment plan, however, only had enough money to cover the $48 exam fee. As I'm sure you can imagine, urinary tract infections are painful and not likely to improve on their own. So our veterinarian opted to treat Molly empirically with antibiotics and pain medications for free. Molly was able to receive the care she needed, but only because charitable resources were available. Funding to provide no-cost veterinary services is scarce to non-existent for most veterinary practices. No veterinarian should have to send a pet home without needed treatment, and pet owners should not have to foreclose a meal so that they can purchase medications for their pet. House Bill 1198 offers a practical, compassionate solution. Donated prescription medications are an untapped resource that could help thousands of pets statewide. statewide. We regularly hear from grieving pet owners who want to donate unused medications after a loss, a generous gesture we are currently unable to accept due to the ambiguity in the law. Veterinarians are, by and large, risk-averse, and many err on the side of being conservative when interpreting the law. Expanding access to donated medications would allow veterinary practices to stretch limited funds, prevent unnecessary suffering, and keep pets with the families who love them. I'd also like to speak briefly about the expedite licensing around registered veterinary technicians. Our community hospital has had a vacancy for registered technicians for over a year. It is a very scarce resource within the veterinary community, And we can't do our work at this level in terms of providing medical treatment without veterinary technicians. And so we also support that. For these reasons, I respectfully ask you to support House Bill 1198. And thank you for your consideration.
Thank you. Committee, are there any questions for either of the witnesses? Seeing none, thank you both so much for your time this morning. Okay, last call for witnesses. Seeing none, the testimony phase is closed. Bill sponsors, do you have any amendments?
Yes. Yes, we do, and they should be up there to be distributed.
Okay, Senator Pelton, do you want to move the amendment and then you can explain?
Yes, I move Amendment L-006 to 1198, and I'll let my fabulous co-prime explain.
All right, Senator Cutter.
He's on record. He called me fabulous. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Pelton. So this amendment, it really is pretty technical. It adds the definition of compounded and drug that exists within the Veterinary Practice Act. They were defined in the Pharmacy Act, but those sections are moving to the Vet Practice Act, and they need to be defined. So they track the existing definitions in the Pharmacy Act. Then it strikes language related to emergency compounding of drugs that was applicable in the Pharmacy Act, but it not applicable in the Veterinary Practice Act It removes provisions related to animal shelters from the bill because they will remain in the Pharmacy Act since the Board of Pharmacy is the licensing entity for animal shelters And then lastly, it provides veterinarians explicit authority to compound and dispense compounded drugs for animal patients. Legislating is complicated.
All right. Thank you for that explanation. Are there any questions about L006? Is there any objection? Seeing none, L-006 is adopted. Any further amendments? Any from the committee? Seeing none, the amendment phase is closed. Any wrap-up comments?
Senator Pelton. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, committee. I'd like to thank my co-prime sponsor on this. It's pretty rare that you see us two paired up on a bill together. But this bill does help. not only my district, rural Colorado, but as we heard from the Humane Society, it will help the city. Also, hopefully getting more vets and vet techs into the state. And the drug donation part of it is big, too. If you have an animal and all of a sudden you have to put that animal down and you still have those drugs and have no need for it, it's good that they can be donated and used elsewhere instead of just being thrown away. So I will remind this committee this bill was unanimous through committee and through the House. So let's not mess with that record, and I'd ask for a yes vote.
Senator Cutter. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, yes, I'm delighted to join on this bill with my co-prime and support. It was shocking to me the lack of veterinary care in some rural areas, And, you know, certainly I have a different perspective being from an urban area, but I know that access to veterinary care for all of your animals, whether they're your livestock or your pets, is really, really important. Animals are important in our lives. And also I love the medication, obviously, because it prevents it from being wasted, which is terrible and puts it into the environment and waste something that another person who perhaps needs it, or an animal in this case, who perhaps needs it could be benefiting from. So I think it's good stewardship all around, and I hope you, yes, help us keep the record and support this unanimously.
Thank you, committee. Thank you. Senator Pelton, you can make a motion if you'd like as amended to the committee of the whole.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move House Bill 1198 as amended to the committee that holds a favorable recommendation.
That's a proper motion. Are there any comments from the committee? Okay, seeing none, thank you all for your work on this and for being passionate about veterinary care for our entire state. I appreciate it. Ms. Jackson, please poll the committee.
Senators, Catlin.
Aye.
Henrickson.
Aye.
Kip.
Yes.
Helton B.
Aye.
Helton R.
Aye.
Daniel Sunday. Yes. Mr. Chair. Aye. That passes unanimously. Senator Pelton. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this would be placed on the consent calendar. Seeing no objection, House Bill 1198 will be placed on the consent calendar. Thank you, committee.
Redemption from my last visit.
There you go.
Welcome back. With that, we have no further work on our agenda. We will be meeting again tomorrow afternoon at 1.30. Watch the calendar. Some things might get added as the day goes on. But with that, Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources is adjourned.