---
type: "Bill"
title: "An Act relating to the certification of veterinarians; exempting veterinarians from the requirements of the controlled substance prescription database; and providing for an effective date."
description: "An Act relating to the certification of veterinarians; exempting veterinarians from the requirements of the controlled substance prescription database; and providing for an effective date."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ak"
legislature: "Alaska Legislature"
session: "33"
identifier: "HB 56"
citation: "Alaska HB 56 (33)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["ANIMALS", "BUSINESS", "DRUGS", "HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES", "HOSPITALS", "LICENSING", "MEDICAL CARE", "OCCUPATIONS & PROFESSIONS", "PHARMACISTS"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ruffridge"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 70
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2023-02-03"
last_action: "2023-10-16"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/50c1afd5-6e20-43a4-9ef4-0a2c1ebfddde"
source_url: "https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Detail/33?Root=HB56"
source_hash: "3ec90e7aa38cc32ecb14e550352b2127435c7d2ccfd22257bc7f1622d15dd35e"
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-ak"]
---

# Alaska HB 56 (33) — An Act relating to the certification of veterinarians; exempting veterinarians from the requirements of the controlled substance prescription database; and providing for an effective date.

## Version chain

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

1. **Enrolled HB 56** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Text/33?Hsid=HB0056Z)
2. **HB 56** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Text/33?Hsid=HB0056A)
3. **SCS HB 56(L&C)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Text/33?Hsid=HB0056B)

## Votes

- (S) PASSED Y19 N- A1 #1118 — **19–0** (pass) · upper
- (H) CONCURRED AM OF (S) Y40 #1094 — **40–0** (pass) · lower
- (H) PASSED Y35 N1 E4 #504 — **35–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Ruffridge — primary (person)
- Allard — cosponsor (person)
- Armstrong — cosponsor (person)
- Bishop — cosponsor (person)
- Bjorkman — cosponsor (person)
- C.Johnson — cosponsor (person)
- Carpenter — cosponsor (person)
- Carrick — cosponsor (person)
- Claman — cosponsor (person)
- Cronk — cosponsor (person)
- Dibert — cosponsor (person)
- Dunbar — cosponsor (person)
- Galvin — cosponsor (person)
- Gray — cosponsor (person)
- Gray-Jackson — cosponsor (person)
- Hannan — cosponsor (person)
- Himschoot — cosponsor (person)
- Hughes — cosponsor (person)
- Kaufman — cosponsor (person)
- Mccabe — cosponsor (person)
- Mccormick — cosponsor (person)
- Mckay — cosponsor (person)
- Mears — cosponsor (person)
- Merrick — cosponsor (person)
- Mina — cosponsor (person)
- Myers — cosponsor (person)
- Ortiz — cosponsor (person)
- Prax — cosponsor (person)
- Rauscher — cosponsor (person)
- Saddler — cosponsor (person)
- Schrage — cosponsor (person)
- Stapp — cosponsor (person)
- Story — cosponsor (person)
- Stutes — cosponsor (person)
- Sumner — cosponsor (person)
- Tilton — cosponsor (person)
- Tobin — cosponsor (person)
- Tomaszewski — cosponsor (person)
- Wilson — cosponsor (person)
- Wright — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-02-03** (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS `reading-1`
- **2023-02-03** (H) HSS, L&C
- **2023-02-06** (H) COSPONSOR(S): SCHRAGE
- **2023-02-07** (H) COSPONSOR(S): PRAX
- **2023-02-18** (H) HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES at 03:00 PM DAVIS 106
- **2023-02-18** (H) <Bill Hearing Canceled> -- MEETING CANCELED --
- **2023-02-24** (H) COSPONSOR(S): MCKAY, CARPENTER, MINA, ALLARD
- **2023-03-02** (H) HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES at 03:00 PM DAVIS 106
- **2023-03-02** (H) Heard & Held
- **2023-03-02** (H) Minutes (HHSS)
- **2023-03-08** (H) COSPONSOR(S): MCCORMICK, HIMSCHOOT, STUTES
- **2023-03-10** (H) COSPONSOR(S): SADDLER, STORY, WRIGHT
- **2023-03-11** (H) HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES at 03:00 PM DAVIS 106
- **2023-03-11** (H) Moved HB 56 Out of Committee
- **2023-03-11** (H) Minutes (HHSS)
- **2023-03-13** (H) COSPONSOR(S): ORTIZ, STAPP, TOMASZEWSKI
- **2023-03-15** (H) HSS RPT 6DP
- **2023-03-15** (H) DP: SUMNER, RUFFRIDGE, MCCORMICK, SADDLER, MINA, PRAX
- **2023-03-15** (H) FN1: ZERO(CED)
- **2023-03-20** (H) LABOR & COMMERCE at 03:15 PM BARNES 124
- **2023-03-20** (H) Heard & Held
- **2023-03-20** (H) Minutes (HL&C)
- **2023-03-24** (H) COSPONSOR(S): ARMSTRONG
- **2023-03-24** (H) LABOR & COMMERCE at 03:15 PM BARNES 124
- **2023-03-24** (H) Moved HB 56 Out of Committee
- **2023-03-24** (H) Minutes (HL&C)
- **2023-03-27** (H) L&C RPT 4DP
- **2023-03-27** (H) DP: PRAX, CARRICK, SADDLER, RUFFRIDGE
- **2023-03-27** (H) FN1: ZERO(CED)
- **2023-03-29** (H) RULES TO CALENDAR 3/29/2023
- **2023-03-29** (H) READ THE SECOND TIME `reading-2`
- **2023-03-29** (H) ADVANCED TO THIRD READING UC `reading-3`
- **2023-03-29** (H) READ THE THIRD TIME HB 56 `reading-3`
- **2023-03-29** (H) PASSED Y35 N1 E4 `passage`
- **2023-03-29** (H) COSPONSOR(S): DIBERT, C.JOHNSON, CRONK, TILTON, RAUSCHER
- **2023-03-29** (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S) `passage`
- **2023-03-29** (H) VERSION: HB 56
- **2023-03-31** (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS `reading-1`
- **2023-03-31** (S) L&C
- **2023-03-31** (S) CROSS SPONSOR(S): MYERS, TOBIN, KAUFMAN, WILSON, DUNBAR, GRAY-JACKSON,
- **2023-03-31** (S) BJORKMAN, BISHOP, CLAMAN
- **2023-04-10** (S) LABOR & COMMERCE at 01:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
- **2023-04-10** (S) Heard & Held
- **2023-04-10** (S) Minutes (SL&C)
- **2023-04-11** (S) CROSS SPONSOR(S): MERRICK, HUGHES
- **2023-04-17** (S) LABOR & COMMERCE at 01:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
- **2023-04-17** (S) Moved SCS HB 56(L&C) Out of Committee
- **2023-04-17** (S) Minutes (SL&C)
- **2023-04-19** (S) L&C RPT SCS(L&C) 5DP NEW TITLE
- **2023-04-19** (S) TITLE CHANGE: SCR 2
- **2023-04-19** (S) DP: BJORKMAN, MERRICK, GRAY-JACKSON, BISHOP, DUNBAR
- **2023-04-19** (S) FN1: ZERO(CED)
- **2023-05-11** (S) RULES TO CALENDAR 5/11/23
- **2023-05-11** (S) READ THE SECOND TIME `reading-2`
- **2023-05-11** (S) L&C SCS ADOPTED UC
- **2023-05-11** (S) ADVANCED TO THIRD READING 5/12 CAL `reading-3`
- **2023-05-12** (S) READ THE THIRD TIME SCS HB 56(L&C) `reading-3`
- **2023-05-12** (S) PASSED Y19 N- A1 `passage`
- **2023-05-12** (S) EFFECTIVE DATE(S) SAME AS PASSAGE
- **2023-05-12** (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H) AS AMENDED `passage`
- **2023-05-12** (S) VERSION: SCS HB 56(L&C)
- **2023-05-13** (H) CONCUR READ AND HELD
- **2023-05-13** (H) CONCUR TAKEN UP UC
- **2023-05-13** (H) TITLE CHANGE: SCR 2
- **2023-05-13** (H) CONCURRED AM OF (S) Y40
- **2023-05-13** (H) EFFECTIVE DATE(S) SAME AS PASSAGE
- **2023-05-13** (H) COSPONSOR(S): MCCABE
- **2023-10-16** (H) 2:26 P.M. 6/26/23 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-10-16** (H) Signed into law 7/6 CHAPTER 14 SLA 23 `executive-signature`
- **2023-10-16** (H) EFFECTIVE DATE(S) OF LAW 7/7/23 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/50c1afd5-6e20-43a4-9ef4-0a2c1ebfddde`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Alaska legislature records).