NY State Senate Bill 2023-S7608

Senate Bill S7608

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Authorizes veterinarians to provide free veterinary care services to individuals in shelters to receive mandatory continuing education credit

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Higher Education Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2024	referred to higher education
Jul 21, 2023	referred to rules

2023-S7608 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A7903
Current Committee:: Senate Higher Education
Law Section:: Education Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §6704-a, Ed L

2023-S7608 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Authorizes veterinarians to provide free veterinary care services to individuals in shelters as self-instructional coursework to receive credit for their continuing education requirement.

2023-S7608 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7608

SPONSOR: GIANARIS
 
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 bill authorizes veterinarians to provide free veterinary care
services to individuals in shelters to receive mandatory continuing
education credit.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 6704-a of the
education law by adding a new subparagraph (iii) to 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.

Section 2 sets the effective date.

 
EXISTING LAW:

Click here

 
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:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the state.

 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Click here

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.

2023-S7608 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7608
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               July 21, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. GIANARIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 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:
 
   Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of  section  6704-a  of  the
 education  law  is amended by adding a new subparagraph (iii) to read as
 follows:
   (III) SELF-INSTRUCTIONAL COURSEWORK MAY INCLUDE THE PROVISION OF  FREE
 VETERINARY  CARE  SERVICES  TO  INDIVIDUALS  RECEIVING TEMPORARY HOUSING
 ASSISTANCE, WHICH SHALL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO, A FAMILY SHELTER,
 A SHELTER FOR ADULTS, A HOTEL PROVIDING TEMPORARY EMERGENCY SHELTER,  AN
 EMERGENCY APARTMENT, A DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTER, A RUNAWAY AND HOMELESS
 YOUTH SHELTER, OR A SAFE HOUSE FOR REFUGEES, PROVIDED THAT SUCH SERVICES
 BE  ADMINISTERED AT PRACTICES, FACILITIES AND PROPERTIES THAT ARE APPRO-
 PRIATELY EQUIPPED AND STAFFED TO PROVIDE SUCH SERVICES.  THE  DEPARTMENT
 MAY OFFSET UP TO THREE HOURS OF THE REQUISITE NUMBER OF HOURS OF CONTIN-
 UING  EDUCATION  REQUIRED  PURSUANT TO THIS PARAGRAPH, AT A RATE OF ONE-
 HALF OF ONE HOUR OF CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR EACH HOUR OF  FREE  VETERI-
 NARY CARE SERVICES.
   §  2.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
 have become a law.
 
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD11607-03-3

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.