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Bill to address veterinarian shortage

Legislation has been reintroduced in the U.S. Senate to address veterinarian shortages in rural areas.

Ranking Member of the Senate Ag Committee Debbie Stabenow of Michigan says she co-sponsored the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program Enhancement Act to encourage veterinarians to practice in underserved areas.

Earlier this year, the USDA designated 190 regions in 44 states as suffering from shortages of livestock and public health veterinarians, the most in the program’s history.

The average student debt for veterinarians totaled more than $180,000 in 2018, while food animal vet careers typically pay less than companion animals.  The repayment program helps with student loan forgiveness for those that commit to practice for three years in areas with a veterinarian shortage.  The legislation would eliminate a 39 percent federal withholding tax on that assistance and on similar programs.

The American Veterinarian Medical Association supports the measure and says if this tax relief had been in place since the program’s inception in 2010, an additional 211 shortage areas could have been filled.

Senators Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota are also among the co-sponsors.