---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- VETERINARY PRACTICE (Removes certain restrictions on who can perform routine husbandry procedures on livestock and allows a licensed human medical practitioner to assist a licensed veterinarian.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- VETERINARY PRACTICE (Removes certain restrictions on who can perform routine husbandry procedures on livestock and allows a licensed human medical practitioner to assist a licensed veterinarian.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 559"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 559 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Animals", "Dept. of Environmental Management", "Business & Professions", "Medical", "Physicians"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Archambault", "Felag", "Fogarty", "Sheehan", "Sosnowski"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 14
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2017-03-15"
last_action: "2017-07-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c72b98a5-335a-4493-abc8-56109c2f7172"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "0d5400570d0bc22b139e5ab433ecb615ccfece26f999ec328cca046e12b7577c"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island SB 559 (2017) — AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- VETERINARY PRACTICE (Removes certain restrictions on who can perform routine husbandry procedures on livestock and allows a licensed human medical practitioner to assist a licensed veterinarian.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **559** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText17/SenateText17/S0559.pdf)

## Votes

- IN CONCURRENCE — **71–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passage — **37–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Archambault — primary (person)
- Felag — primary (person)
- Fogarty — primary (person)
- Sheehan — primary (person)
- Sosnowski — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-03-15** 03/15/2017 Introduced, referred to Senate Environment and Agriculture `referral-committee, introduction`
- **2017-04-07** 04/07/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/12/2017)
- **2017-04-12** 04/12/2017 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2017-04-21** 04/21/2017 Scheduled for consideration (04/26/2017)
- **2017-04-26** 04/26/2017 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-04-27** 04/27/2017 Placed on Senate Calendar (05/03/2017)
- **2017-05-03** 05/03/2017 Senate read and passed `passage`
- **2017-05-04** 05/04/2017 Referred to House H.E.W. `referral-committee`
- **2017-06-02** 06/02/2017 Scheduled for consideration (06/07/2017)
- **2017-06-07** 06/07/2017 Committee recommends passage in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-06-27** 06/27/2017 Placed on House Calendar (06/28/2017)
- **2017-06-28** 06/28/2017 House passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2017-06-29** 06/29/2017 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2017-07-05** 07/05/2017 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c72b98a5-335a-4493-abc8-56109c2f7172`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).