Beginning in 2024, efforts to address retention of veterinary technicians have come to the forefront of national, state, and local debate. Several national veterinary organizations including the AVMA, American Association of Bovine Practitioners, and others have focused on the profession while several states have either adopted new laws or debated proposals to modernize and/or clarify the legal authority for vet techs to perform certain practices and procedures.
These efforts and actions ultimately to seek to retain interest in the profession by reflecting and recognize what vet techs contribute to vet practitioners. Idaho is no different.
In 2025, Idaho State Senator Dave Lent (R-Idaho Falls) requested the IVMA focus on the issue. Underlying the request was his concern that Idaho vet technicians were leaving the profession at an early and alarming rate – a trend that could cause state funding to be rescinded for vet tech programs offered by the College of Southern Idaho (CSI) and other institutions.
Senator Lent challenged the IVMA to address the issue and provide him with some policy options that he could take to his counterparts in the Idaho legislature.
The IVMA responded by creating an ad hoc vet tech task force comprised of seven members including a regional mix of veterinarians, experienced vet technicians, and Dr. Jody Rockett, head of CSI’s veterinary tech education program based in Twin Falls, Idaho.
The task force met three times in the fall of 2025 to examine the Idaho Practice Act and discuss an approach that could strike a careful balance between creating new regulation and encouraging higher pay and authorities to encourage and retain vet technicians in the profession.
The task force reviewed a wide variety of information as they dove deeper into the issue. The group soon realized that data was sorely insufficient and a quick consensus would not be easily reached. Thus, the group suspended its efforts prior to the 2026 state legislative session.
No legislation on the topic was proposed during the 2026 state legislative session, which provided the IVMA with “breathing room” to work on an effort to collect data. Dr. Jody Rockett immediately went to bat.
She spearheaded a survey of questions for broad distribution to Idaho’s veterinarians and their practices to fill in the gap of information and assist in developing a reasonable policy for consideration by the Idaho state legislature.
The IVMA encourages members to complete the survey found at this link:
We also ask for help distributing the survey as broadly as possible amongst your network to ensure a significant volume of data is collected to inform the work of the IVMA’s vet task force and ultimately the Idaho state legislature.
At its national conference in July, the AVMA held a session discussing the importance of investing in vet technicians. Read the AVMA’s press release here.
Please direct any questions on the survey to director@ivma.org.