republic-os/legislation/us/states/il/96th/hb-5377.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "VETERINARY MED PRACT ACT"
description: "Amends the Veterinary Medicine and Surgery Practice Act of 2004. Provides that no person may practice veterinary medicine in the State except within the context of a veterinarian-client-patient relationship. Changes the definition of \"veterinarian-client-patient relationship\" to include a licensed veterinarian who has access to the animal patient's records and has been designated by the veterinarian with the prior relationship with the animal patient to provide reasonable and appropriate medical care if he or she is unavailable. Adds exemptions from the Act for certain specified persons. Requires a veterinarian to maintain patient records, which shall include certain specified information, for a minimum of 5 years from the date of the last known contact with an animal patient. Increases the maximum civil penalty allowed for a violation of the Act from $5,000 to $10,000. Makes several changes to the definition of \"practice of veterinary medicine\". Makes changes to the definitions of \"accredited program in veterinary technology\", \"certified veterinary technician\", and \"complementary, alternative, and integrative therapies\". Defines \"immediate supervision\", \"licensed veterinarian\", \"veterinary premises\", \"veterinary prescription drugs\", and \"veterinary specialist\". Replaces all references in the Act to \"Director\" with \"Secretary\". Makes other changes. Also makes technical changes. Amends the Regulatory Sunset Act. Extends the repeal date of the Veterinary Medicine and Surgery Practice Act of 2004 from January 1, 2014 to January 1, 2020. Effective immediately."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "96th"
identifier: "HB 5377"
citation: "Illinois HB 5377 (96th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 29
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2010-02-04"
last_action: "2010-07-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f6f4bd93-639c-49cc-9b8c-0d9f0086decb"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=5377&GAID=10&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=50411&SessionID=76&GA=96"
source_hash: "44a03b78d36bf243d368f417d2da2dfc0dcb2d211bb0e097495cce6047fe6fa4"
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-il"]
---

# Illinois HB 5377 (96th) — VETERINARY MED PRACT ACT

Amends the Veterinary Medicine and Surgery Practice Act of 2004. Provides that no person may practice veterinary medicine in the State except within the context of a veterinarian-client-patient relationship. Changes the definition of "veterinarian-client-patient relationship" to include a licensed veterinarian who has access to the animal patient's records and has been designated by the veterinarian with the prior relationship with the animal patient to provide reasonable and appropriate medical care if he or she is unavailable. Adds exemptions from the Act for certain specified persons. Requires a veterinarian to maintain patient records, which shall include certain specified information, for a minimum of 5 years from the date of the last known contact with an animal patient. Increases the maximum civil penalty allowed for a violation of the Act from $5,000 to $10,000. Makes several changes to the definition of "practice of veterinary medicine". Makes changes to the definitions of "accredited program in veterinary technology", "certified veterinary technician", and "complementary, alternative, and integrative therapies". Defines "immediate supervision", "licensed veterinarian", "veterinary premises", "veterinary prescription drugs", and "veterinary specialist". Replaces all references in the Act to "Director" with "Secretary". Makes other changes. Also makes technical changes. Amends the Regulatory Sunset Act. Extends the repeal date of the Veterinary Medicine and Surgery Practice Act of 2004 from January 1, 2014 to January 1, 2020. Effective immediately.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09600HB5377&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=50411&DocNum=5377&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09600HB5377eng&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=50411&DocNum=5377&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09600HB5377enr&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=50411&DocNum=5377&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **53–0** (pass) · upper
- Third Reading — **114–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Frank J. Mautino — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2010-02-04** Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Frank J. Mautino `filing`
- **2010-02-05** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2010-02-05** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2010-02-16** Assigned to Health Care Licenses Committee `referral-committee`
- **2010-03-03** Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. William B. Black
- **2010-03-04** Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. David Reis
- **2010-03-10** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Filed with Clerk by Health Care Licenses Committee `amendment-introduction`
- **2010-03-10** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Adopted in Health Care Licenses Committee; by Voice Vote `amendment-passage`
- **2010-03-10** Do Pass as Amended / Short Debate Health Care Licenses Committee; 009-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2010-03-10** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2010-03-17** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2010-03-17** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2010-03-18** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 114-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2010-03-18** Arrive in Senate `introduction`
- **2010-03-18** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading March 23, 2010 `reading-1`
- **2010-04-07** Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Michael W. Frerichs
- **2010-04-12** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2010-04-12** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2010-04-15** Assigned to Executive `referral-committee`
- **2010-04-21** Do Pass Executive; 012-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2010-04-21** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading April 22, 2010
- **2010-04-27** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2010-04-27** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading April 28, 2010
- **2010-04-29** Third Reading - Passed; 053-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2010-04-29** Passed Both Houses
- **2010-05-28** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2010-07-27** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2010-07-27** Effective Date July 27, 2010
- **2010-07-27** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 96-1322 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f6f4bd93-639c-49cc-9b8c-0d9f0086decb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).