BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 3945

By: Clardy

Agriculture & Livestock

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Many enabling statutes, such as those of the Texas Board of Dental Examiners, the Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners, and the Texas Board of Acupuncture Examiners, require that a practitioner serve in the presiding officer position. However, the enabling statute of the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (TBVME) does not contain this requirement. Texas veterinarians have a strong incentive to ensure that the TBVME meets the needs of both licensees and the public they serve. Professional regulatory boards perform the important task of protecting the public by ensuring that licensees are competent and practice in an ethical manner. Those who hold professional licenses have a strong incentive to ensure that their regulatory boards are highly functional and well-managed. Licensees also possess highly technical and specialized knowledge of the regulated profession that non-practitioners simply do not have, which is why state law requires a majority of seats on most of these boards to be licensees themselves. H.B. 3945 seeks to require that the TBVME's presiding officer be a licensed veterinarian.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 3945 amends the Occupations Code to require that the member of the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (TBVME) designated by the governor as the TBVME presiding officer be one of the members of the TBVME who is a veterinarian. This requirement applies only to the appointment of the presiding officer on or after the bill's effective date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.