Passage of Veterinary Medicine
FVMA's Priority Legislative Initiative Passes in the 11th hour
Mobility Act on the Horizon (H.R. 1528/S. 1117) The House version of the legislation, H.R. 1528, was introduced last April by Representatives Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) and Ted Yoho (R-Fla.), both veterinarians. The bill, which has 184 bipartisan cosponsors in the House, is now available to be placed on the House agenda for a vote. It is reported, with cautious optimism, that it is likely to be placed on the agenda after the House members return from the July 4th break. Please thank the following members of the House of Representatives from Florida who signed on as cosponsors of this important legislation: Rep. Vern Buchanan, Rep. Kathy Castor, Rep. Ander Crenshaw, Rep. Theodore Deutch, Rep. Joe Garcia, Rep. Alcee Hastings, Rep. David Jolly, Rep. Richard Nugent, Rep. Bill Posey, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Rep. Ted Yoho. For further information concerning this legislation and its history please go to: https://www.avma.org/Advocacy/National/ Congress/Pages/VMMA-Campaign.aspx
As previously reported, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) interpretation of provisions within the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and resulting federal regulations make it illegal for registrants to transport controlled substances for use outside of a registered location. The DEA has informed organized veterinary The DEA has informed organized veterinary medicine that transporting controlled substances is illegal per the CSA and thus would require a medicine that transporting controlled substances statutory change to allow veterinarians to legally is illegal per the CSA and thus would require a provide complete veterinary care. It is imperative veterinarians be able to legally transport controlled statutory change to allow veterinarians to legally substances to the locations of the animal patient not only for animal health and welfare, but for public provide complete veterinary care. safety. The FVMA Governmental Relations staff has been continuously assisting the AVMA Governmental Relations If you need more information or have any questions please Division in securing legislative support for the Veterinary contact Ann Deal at ann.deal@fvma.org or the FVMA’s Medicine Mobility Act. FVMA staff has been successful in Membership Support Help Line: 800-992-FVMA (3862). disseminating information about the legislation and in garnering cosponsorships from Representatives from Florida. The Veterinary Medicine Mobility Act (H.R. 1528/S. 1117) is commonsense legislation that will allow veterinarians the ability to provide complete care to their animal patients beyond their clinics. Upon passage, it would amend the Controlled Substances Act to permit veterinarians to carry controlled substances outside of their primary places of registration, and across state lines into states where they also hold a veterinary license, to treat their patients. This means that licensed and registered veterinarians who treat patients on the farm, in the wild, at a client’s home or in other mobile settings will be allowed to bring and use controlled substances for pain management, anesthesia or euthanasia. The Senate passed the Veterinary Medicine Mobility Act (S. 1171) by a unanimous consensus on January 8, 2014. 38 | FVMA ADVOCATE
Effective July 1, 2014
THERAPEUTIC veterinary Diets are TAX EXEMPT
W
e have all heard the saying “It ain’t over 'til it’s over.” That has never been as true as it was in the 2014 Florida Legislative session. We had previously reported that, for all intents and purposes, it appeared the FVMA’s priority legislation, Senate Bill 534 and House Bill 257, the tax exemption on Therapeutic Veterinary Diets, was dead for the 2014 Legislative Session. Two days before the end of the session Senator Jack Latvala (our Senate Bill Sponsor and a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee) informed us that he was going to facilitate the amendment of the Appropriations bill to include the verbiage of our proposed statutory change. He met with Senator Joe Negron (Senate Appropriations Committee Chair) that evening and with Senator Negron’s support, the comprehensive Senate Appropriations’ bill (HB 5601) was to be amended to include the language of SB 534 and HB 257. On Thursday, May 1st, the amendment to the bill was approved by the Senate and it was placed on 3rd reading. On Friday, May 2nd, the bill was then approved by a unanimous vote of the Senate on 3rd reading and forwarded to the House of Representatives. The House then voted to approve the bill and it was sent to the Governor for signature. Governor Rick Scott signed the “Appropriations Bill,” which included the tax exemption for Therapeutic Veterinary Diets, into law on May 12, 2014. House Bill 5601, amended Florida Statute 212.08 Tax on sales, use and other transactions- subsection (2) Exemptions; Medical, paragraphs (i) through (k), to add the following language:
FS 212.08(2)(i): Sales of therapeutic veterinary diets specifically formulated to aid in the management of illness and disease of a diagnosed health disorder in an animal and which are only available from a licensed veterinarian are exempt from the tax imposed under this chapter. The effect of this law restores the sales tax exemption on therapeutic veterinary diets, commonly referred to as prescription diets, to their pre-2010 sales tax exempt status. As a result of this legislation, therapeutic veterinary diets eligible for sales tax exemption are diets that manufacturers only make available to the public through a licensed veterinarian.
BACKGROUND: Therapeutic veterinary diets, commonly referred to as prescription diets, enjoyed tax exempt status for more than 30 years. In 2010, as a result of a review by the Florida Department of Revenue (DOR), of the Florida Sales Tax Exemption Statutes, the DOR determined that the law did not support tax exempt status for prescription diets. The DOR’s interpretation was that, contrary to their commonly referred to name, “Prescription Diets” were not government regulated drugs that require a Federal Caution Label in order to be classified as a prescription. After several attempts with the DOR to appeal this determination, the FVMA leadership abandoned this time consuming and potentially costly process in favor of pursuing a legislative remedy to amend FS 212.08 to solidify once and for all tax exempt status of Therapeutic Veterinary Diets. FVMA owes a big THANK YOU to Senator Jack Latvala and Senator Joe Negron for making this happen. Our bill would have been dead had these two Senators not breathed life into it by making the decision to include “our bill” in the appropriations package. We also thank Governor Scott for signing the bill, and thus making it a law. We also need to remember the following Senate and House Members who sponsored and co-introduced our initial legislation: Sponsors: Senator Jack Latvala and Representative Ed Hooper. Co-Introducers: Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, Sen. Darren Soto, Rep. Larry Ahearn, Rep. Neil Combee, Rep. Travis Cummings, Rep. Amanda Murphy, Rep. Keith Perry, Rep. Gregory Steube, Rep. John Wood and Rep. Carl Zimmerman. FVMA members who live in the above Legislators’ districts are encouraged to please make an effort to write, call or stop by their local offices and simply thank them for their support of making Therapeutic Veterinary Diets tax exempt. (The tax exemption went into effect on July 1, 2014.) A special “Thank You” to the FVMA Executive Board, Legislative Committee and all of the Members that supported and lobbied for this effort. A very special note of appreciation to Senator Jack Latvala who was our “Legislative Champion” in achieving passage of this law. For more information call the FVMA member support Help Line at 800-992-FVMA(3862) or email us at info@FVMA.org. www.fvma.org | 39