NY State Senate Bill 2013-S7595

Archive: Last 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
May 15, 2014	referred to higher education

co-Sponsors

2013-S7595 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A9786
Current Committee:: Senate Higher Education
Law Section:: Education Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§6705 & 6712, Ed L
Versions Introduced in 2015-2016 Legislative Session:: S250, A6990

2013-S7595 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Enacts the "veterinary emergency response and mobility act of 2014".

2013-S7595 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S7595                REVISED 5/21/14

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the education law, in relation to
enacting the "veterinary emergency response and mobility act of 2014"

PURPOSE:  This bill provides for limited licensing exemptions for
specially-trained, out-of-state veterinarians, under specific
circumstances related to natural disaster response and high-volume
animal cruelty investigations.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Adds new subdivisions 14 and 15 to section 6705 of the
education law to provide limited licensure exemptions for
specially-skilled veterinarians during a declared disaster or
high-volume cruelty investigation when invited by the law enforcement
agency conducting such investigation.

Section 2 Adds new subdivisions 4 and 5 to section 6712 of the
education law to provide the same exemptions, under the same limited
circumstances, for specially-skilled veterinary technicians.

Section 3. Prescribes an immediate effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:

From hurricanes and flooding to animal fighting and other large-scale
animal cruelty cases, law enforcement and emergency management
agencies rely heavily on specially-trained veterinarians to rescue
animals from life-threatening situations and mitigate associated risks
to human populations. This measure seeks to better integrate these
responders into the existing response framework by recognizing the
valid and current licenses of specially-trained veterinary
professionals invited into the State either by the Department of
Agriculture and Markets or by law enforcement to assist with such
incidents.

Expertise in the specialized fields of shelter medicine and forensic
veterinary medicine is critical to a successful response. Only a
veterinarian with shelter medicine experience can successfully oversee
an emergency or disaster response operation, which requires Incident
Command System (ICS) training and typically involves managing
long-term temporary housing for a large number of animals, preventing
infectious disease, following specialized sanitation protocols and
practicing behavior medicine. Responding to large-scale cruelty cases
also typically requires knowledge of ICS protocols, in addition to
long-term commitments and expertise in crime scene processing/forensic
veterinary medicine. Certain protocols must be followed by
veterinarians to collect and document evidence and follow chain of
custody rules as they process and care for animals.

Often, there is not a sufficient amount of New York licensed
veterinarians available to provide the required expertise or meet the
volume of response needed in these situations. We saw this during New
York's response to Hurricane Irene and Super Storm Sandy, and most
recently in February, when the ASPCA worked with Attorney General
Schneiderman's Organized Crime Task Force to orchestrate the seizure


of over 4,000 roosters as a part of a three county cockfighting ring
raid.

Veterinary professionals typically hold a license to practice in only
their home state but emergencies or natural disasters and large-scale
cruelty cases can take place anywhere. While New York does have
mechanisms to recognize the valid and current out-of-state licenses of
volunteer health practitioners including veterinarians - in times of
emergency there is not express authority granted which would allow for
valid and current out-of-state licensed veterinarians to work in
animal response teams of sufficient number to effectively respond to
large-scale cruelty and emergency response cases. When veterinarians
are unable to deploy because of this licensing restriction, the
success of the operation is negatively impacted or in some cases, the
operation might not be able to happen at all.

Local veterinarians, of course, remain integral to the success of such
operations - indeed, long-term animal care is needed in many instances
following the conclusion of a given response or investigation-but
having to rely too heavily on local veterinarians to fulfill all the
needs of a given animal response team can compromise the outcome of a
response to a large-scale cruelty case or emergency. Law enforcement
frequently requests that animal response teams keep operations
confidential prior to the execution of a warrant, which prevent
responders from securing the assistance of local veterinarians in
advance In addition, the vast majority of veterinary medicine
practitioners are small business owners who cannot leave their
practices on such short notice to assist Of those who are able to
help, most can only offer one or two days at a time.  Because these
operations can last for many weeks, there is a need for ongoing
specialty care that almost always exceeds or exhausts the capacity of
a local veterinarian population, thereby resulting in a piecemeal
approach rather than thorough, methodical and consistent care to a
compromised population of animals.

This measure seeks to responsibly ensure the provision of such
specialty care when disaster strikes or in support of state and
municipal law enforcement cruelty investigations, while ensuring that
those services are provided only for the duration of the
investigation/response period.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: New bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Immediately.

2013-S7595 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  7595

                            I N  S E N A T E

                              May 15, 2014
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen. LAVALLE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education

AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to enacting the  "veteri-
  nary emergency response and mobility act of 2014"

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "veterinary
emergency response and mobility act of 2014".
  S 2. Section 6705 of the education law is amended by  adding  two  new
subdivisions 14 and 15 to read as follows:
  14. A VETERINARIAN WHO IS LICENSED IN ANOTHER STATE PROVIDING SERVICES
DIRECTLY  IN  CONNECTION  WITH AN INVESTIGATION BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OF AN
ALLEGED VIOLATION OF FEDERAL OR STATE ANIMAL FIGHTING OR ANIMAL  CRUELTY
LAWS,  WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATION AND/OR ANY RELATED JUDICIAL
PROCEEDINGS, SUBJECT TO THE  FOLLOWING  REQUIREMENTS:  (A)  AN  OFFICIAL
INVITATION  HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO THE VETERINARIAN FOR A SPECIFIED PERIOD
OF TIME BY THE LAW ENFORCEMENT  AUTHORITY  WITH  JURISDICTION  OVER  THE
INVESTIGATION;  AND  (B)  SUCH LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY DETERMINES THAT
THE VETERINARIAN POSSESSES SKILLS, TRAINING, OR EXPERIENCE NECESSARY AND
RELEVANT TO SUCH INVESTIGATION OF ALLEGED INCIDENTS OF  ANIMAL  FIGHTING
OR ANIMAL CRUELTY. SUCH EXEMPTION SHALL NOT EXTEND BEYOND THE TIME PERI-
OD  SPECIFIED  BY  THE  LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY WITH JURISDICTION OVER
SUCH INVESTIGATION. THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY SHALL NOTIFY THE STATE
VETERINARIAN OF ANY INVESTIGATION CONDUCTED PURSUANT TO THIS SUBDIVISION
FOR THE PURPOSES OF  FACILITATING  APPROPRIATE  ANIMAL  DISEASE  CONTROL
MEASURES,  IF NECESSARY, PURSUANT TO ARTICLES FIVE AND TWENTY-SIX OF THE
AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS LAW.
  15. A VETERINARIAN WHO IS LICENSED IN ANOTHER STATE PROVIDING SERVICES
DURING AN EMERGENCY OR NATURAL DISASTER WITHIN THE SCOPE AND LOCATION OF
ASSIGNED VETERINARY MEDICAL DUTIES OF THE RESPONSE EFFORTS  IF:  (A)  AN
OFFICIAL  DECLARATION  OF THE DISASTER OR EMERGENCY HAS BEEN MADE BY THE
GOVERNOR OR THE DELEGATED STATE OFFICIAL; AND (B) AN OFFICIAL INVITATION
HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO THE  VETERINARIAN  FOR  A  SPECIFIED  TIME  BY  THE
AUTHORITY THAT HAS JURISDICTION FOR COORDINATING THE ANIMAL/AGRICULTURAL

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                           LBD15269-01-4

S. 7595                             2

ISSUES  IN  THE  STATE  DURING  EMERGENCIES EITHER WITHIN OR OUTSIDE THE
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE COMPACT (EMAC).
  S 3. Subdivision 3 of section 6712 of the education law, as amended by
chapter  333  of the laws of 1990, is amended and two new subdivisions 4
and 5 are added to read as follows:
  3. Any student engaging in clinical practice under the supervision  of
a  licensed  veterinarian  in  pursuance  of an approved program for the
training of veterinary technology[.];
  4. A TECHNICIAN WHO IS LICENSED IN ANOTHER  STATE  PROVIDING  SERVICES
OTHERWISE  PERMISSIBLE  PURSUANT  TO THIS ARTICLE DIRECTLY IN CONNECTION
WITH AN INVESTIGATION BY LAW ENFORCEMENT  OF  AN  ALLEGED  VIOLATION  OF
FEDERAL  OR  STATE  ANIMAL  FIGHTING  OR ANIMAL CRUELTY LAWS, WITHIN THE
SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATION  AND/OR  ANY  RELATED  JUDICIAL  PROCEEDINGS,
SUBJECT  TO  THE  FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS: (A) AN OFFICIAL INVITATION HAS
BEEN EXTENDED TO THE TECHNICIAN FOR A SPECIFIED PERIOD OF  TIME  BY  THE
LAW  ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY WITH JURISDICTION OVER THE INVESTIGATION; AND
(B) SUCH  LAW  ENFORCEMENT  AUTHORITY  DETERMINES  THAT  THE  TECHNICIAN
POSSESSES SKILLS, TRAINING, OR EXPERIENCE NECESSARY AND RELEVANT TO SUCH
INVESTIGATION OF ALLEGED INCIDENTS OF ANIMAL FIGHTING OR ANIMAL CRUELTY.
SUCH  EXEMPTION SHALL NOT EXTEND BEYOND THE TIME PERIOD SPECIFIED BY THE
LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY WITH JURISDICTION OVER SUCH INVESTIGATION. THE
LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY SHALL NOTIFY THE  STATE  VETERINARIAN  OF  ANY
INVESTIGATION  CONDUCTED  PURSUANT  TO  THIS SECTION FOR THE PURPOSES OF
FACILITATING APPROPRIATE ANIMAL DISEASE CONTROL MEASURES, IF  NECESSARY,
PURSUANT  TO ARTICLES FIVE AND TWENTY-SIX OF THE AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS
LAW.
  5. A TECHNICIAN WHO IS LICENSED IN ANOTHER  STATE  PROVIDING  SERVICES
OTHERWISE  PERMISSIBLE  PURSUANT  TO THIS ARTICLE DURING AN EMERGENCY OR
NATURAL DISASTER WITHIN THE SCOPE AND LOCATION  OF  ASSIGNED  VETERINARY
TECHNICIAN  DUTIES  OF THE RESPONSE EFFORTS IF: (A) AN OFFICIAL DECLARA-
TION OF THE DISASTER OR EMERGENCY HAS BEEN MADE BY THE GOVERNOR  OR  THE
DELEGATED  STATE  OFFICIAL;  AND  (B)  AN  OFFICIAL  INVITATION HAS BEEN
EXTENDED TO THE TECHNICIAN FOR A SPECIFIED TIME BY  THE  AUTHORITY  THAT
HAS  JURISDICTION FOR COORDINATING THE ANIMAL/AGRICULTURAL ISSUES IN THE
STATE DURING EMERGENCIES EITHER WITHIN OR OUTSIDE THE EMERGENCY  MANAGE-
MENT ASSISTANCE COMPACT (EMAC).
  S 4. This act shall take effect immediately.

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.

Senate Bill S7595

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Higher Education Committee

co-Sponsors

2013-S7595 (ACTIVE) - Details

2013-S7595 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2013-S7595 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2013-S7595 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S7595

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Kenneth P. LaValle

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Higher Education Committee

co-Sponsors

Patty Ritchie

2013-S7595 (ACTIVE) - Details

2013-S7595 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2013-S7595 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2013-S7595 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments