The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) recently held its annual fly-in with members of Congress to advocate for veterinary services in rural areas and the prevention of diseases that pose a threat to humans and animals.
“The veterinary community stands united in advocating for Congress to help alleviate veterinarian shortage situations in rural areas by assisting with the significant obstacle of student debt, and to ensure that dogs entering the country are healthy, thus reducing the potential for the spread of diseases that can endanger animal and public health,” said Dr. Josй Arce, AVMA president, in a statement prior to the fly-in.
On April 27, over 200 veterinarian professionals from 48 states, Puerto Rico and 20 veterinary schools talked to congressional members and staff regarding the need to pass two bills, the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) Enhancement Act and the Healthy Dog Importation Act.
The VMLRP Enhancement Act would end the federal withholding tax for veterinarians participating in USDA-designated shortage areas. Veterinarians must serve for at least three years in one of the USDA-designated shortage areas in exchange for a $25,000 per year student loan repayment award. The USDA designated 221 shortage areas in 48 states for 2021. These shortage areas include five in Nebraska, five in South Dakota, and four each in Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
According to the AVMA, the average student loan debt for graduates of veterinary colleges rose to $188,000 in 2020. As a result, many new graduates are unable to practice in rural areas since veterinary salaries in rural areas are often lower than those in urban or suburban areas. Since 2010, 1,632 veterinarians have applied to the VMLRP, but only 552 have received service awards. In 2021, USDA awarded $7.5 million to 78 veterinarians to repay student loans.
“Qualified veterinarians in agricultural communities across the nation are a key part of maintaining animal health and welfare and ensuring ranchers and farmers have access to care for their livestock,” said Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID), who introduced the bill with Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).
“Overly burdensome federal taxes on the (VMLRP) limit the reach of the program’s benefits, and addressing those limitations would allow more veterinarians to have the opportunity to practice in small, rural communities where their services are in critical need.”
A House version of the bill was also reintroduced by Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI-3) and Adrian Smith (R-NE-3). The bill is currently in the Ways and Means Committee in the House, and the Senate version was read twice and referred to the Finance Committee.
In 2021, the Healthy Dog Importation Act was introduced in the House and Senate, requiring every imported dog to have a certificate of veterinary inspection from a licensed veterinarian confirming the dog is of good health and does not pose a risk of spreading diseases that could endanger animal and public health.
The House version has been referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture, and the Senate version has been referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.
“We saw this year’s legislative fly-in as a great success and are confident it will result in an increased amount of broad, bipartisan support for both the VMLRP Enhancement Act and the Healthy Dog Importation Act,” Arce told WLJ in an email.
“With 213 veterinary professionals representing 49 states and Puerto Rico participating in approximately 250 meetings with congressional offices, the event was effective in educating lawmakers and their staffs about the importance of veterinary medicine along with two significant issues facing our country, rural veterinary shortages and the need to strengthen our nation’s public health infrastructure by improving dog importation standards.” — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
