The practice of veterinary medicine in Indiana would be vastly different if IVMA didn’t exist to address public policy issues on behalf of the profession. Your profession, your practice, your livelihood–all would be in jeopardy if IVMA wasn’t there to monitor and affect legislation and policy. Without these efforts, making your living would be much more difficult. During the 2024 legislative session, for example, the IVMA and our legislative team monitors bills, evaluates their potential impact on each of you and then proceeds accordingly. The work is extensive, time consuming, and costly. We work hard to prevent over-regulation, to make sure there is science-based information provided, to protect animals and to be a voice for small business owners. Here are just a few of the way IVMA has improved your professional life through advocacy in the last five years:
- In the 2024 session, worked with legislators to carve out an exemption for the use of Xylazine for veterinarians as it became a controlled substance.
- During the 2023 session, supported the funding legislation for the Center for Animal Policy which passed.
- Supported the enabling legislation in 2022 to move the veterinary licensing board to co-locate with the State Board of Animal Health.
- Passed a bill in the 2021 legislative session that eliminated the zero-reporting requirement in INSPECT as of July 1, 2021.
- Worked closely with human health providers in the 2021 legislative session to modify language impacting veterinary telemedicine to protect the profession and the animals you treat.
- Worked with staff at the Professional Licensing Agency and INSPECT to comport INSPECT reporting and querying with veterinary medical practice.
- Connected with legislators prior to the 2021 legislative session to stave off the introduction of bills related to equine dentistry.
- Affirmed veterinary medicine as an essential business at the start of the Pandemic in March 2020.
In short, IVMA has your back. We take on the tough issues, so you don’t have to, protecting you, your practice, and your livelihood. Without IVMA, there would be adverse consequences to veterinary medicine and veterinary practice, and to the health and welfare of animals in Indiana. Being successful in shaping public policy requires a lobbying team, staff time, volunteer time, and grassroots advocates. IVMA wants every veterinarian in Indiana to share this commitment to positively impact public policy. Why is this important during the months when the Legislature is not in session? Contacting your state senator and state representative NOW to develop those legislative connections is SO critical to continuing our grassroots networks. IVMA has a powerful and sophisticated lobbying effort but just as important is veterinary medicine (YOU) connecting with your representative and senator at the local level. Please consider contacting your legislators today to start a conversation about veterinary medicine. One by one, we can continue to advocate for the profession and the animals you so ably serve and treat. How do I find my legislators? Enter your home address at this website: IGA | Find Your Legislator You will find email addresses and phone numbers for your legislators and their staff. Reach out to them and introduce yourself. Invite them to your practice. Show them the power of veterinary medicine in your community!