Capitol Report
by Thomas Hagerty, DVM

The Minnesota legislature is at work with 28 committees in the Senate and 35 committees in the House hearing some of the over 800 bills already introduced in each body to date. Several that have been introduced could affect the veterinary community.

Five bills address the breeding of dogs and cats to produce offspring for sale.

Senate bill, SF7 introduced by Sen. Betzold, and its companion House bill, HF 253, offered by Rep. Tillberry defines "breeder" as a person who possesses six or more adult intact female dogs or cats for the purpose of breeding and is in the business of selling the offspring. The bill includes in detail standards of care, and the requirements for licensing and inspections, investigations and enforcement. The authority and responsibility would be placed with the Minnesota Board of Animal Health.

Another bill, SF 500, by Sen. Erickson-Ropes, and its house companion, HF 537, by Rep. Juhnke, defines a "commercial breeder" as one who maintains 40 or more cats and dogs older than 9 months of age that are capable of breeding. This bill requires an applicant to apply for a permit issued by the Board of Animal Health following the passing of an initial unannounced inspection by the Board. The bill stipulates "minimum requirements" as the best management standards set forth by the Commissioner of Agriculture and the standards  contained in the most recent edition of the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services Animal Care Dealer Inspection Manual.

The senate bills including SF7 and SF500 as well as SF201 introduced by Senator Steve Dille (veterinarian) were heard in the Senate Agricultural Committee in January and were tabled for further consideration at a later time. The House has not taken action on their bills at this time.

SF 201, by Sen. Dille, defines a breeder as one who possesses 20 or more adult intact female cats or dogs for the purpose of breeding. The bill requires registration by the local animal control authority, which is described as an agency of the state, county, municipality or other political subdivision of the state that is responsible for animal control operations or feedlots in its jurisdiction.

Senator Dille with the help of the U of M College of Veterinary Medicine introduced SF 132 which would establish a "Large Animal Veterinarian Loan Forgiveness Program". This plan would provide $15,000.00 per year for up to 5 years for veterinarians who have graduated within 3 years from the University of Minnesota's Veterinary Medicine and who agree to devote 50% of their practice to the care of food producing animals located primarily in a rural area that is considered underserved.

Senator Dille introduced SF 754 requesting $1,250,000.00 for additional disease surveillance for the College's Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Representative Al Juhnke of Wilmar introduced the companion, HF 839 in the house.

Senator Dille also introduced SF 133, which is a resolution memorializing the US Congress to oppose federal legislation that interferes with a state's ability to direct the transport or processing of horses. The House companion bill, HF 840 was introduced by Representative Juhnke.

The MVMA's Government Affairs Committee met on Friday February 6, 2009 at the MVMA’s annual meeting to report on legislative activities and to receive input from the members. Representative Marty Seifert, minority leader in the Minnesota House of Representatives addressed the committee and discussed the issues he believed would receive the most attention this session. The budget shortfall of over 4 billion dollars will be the legislature's highest priority. The House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher and Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Gene Hugoson also spoke at the MVMA convention.

Your legislative team of Brian McDaniel, Allyson Hartle, Cory Bennett, Dan Tjornehoj and Tom Hagerty continue to monitor the issues and follow the bills that are introduced as well as staying in contact with the appropriate legislator and committees.  Please contact the MVMA office at info@mvma.org if you have any questions regarding legislative matters.

To find Your MN Legislative District, Senators and Representatives click below

Lobbyist Information

Registered MVMA Lobbyists consist of volunteer and staff lobbyists, as well as paid lobbyists. You may contact our volunteer and staff lobbyists with any legislative concerns. Please contact:

Tom Hagerty

tshagerty@embarqmail.com

We also use a professional lobbying firm, Lockridge, Grindal, and Nauen.

Allyson Hartle

ajhartle@locklaw.com

Brian McDaniel

brmcdaniel@locklaw.com

Key Contact Network

The Key Contact Network is vital to the success of VET PAC. The network consists of MVMA members who have volunteered to contact other veterinarians in their area to ask for financial support for VET PAC. Donations received are used to support candidates who express interest in supporting veterinary medicine and animal agriculture. With redistricting and many new candidates, the MVMA Key Contact Network will be completely revised. The goal is to have one or more veterinarians assigned to each legislator and serve as a voice of veterinary medicine to the state senator and or representative. Does the KCN pay off? A legislator is much more sensitive to the views of constituents than lobbyists. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Key Contact Network, please contact Tom Hagerty at tshagerty@embarqmail.com.