Government Relations
UW System Position on Bills Introduced in the Legislature During the 2009-2010 Session
Pending Legislation
AB 708
Food Animal Veterinarian Loan Assistance Program
Full Description
(Lassa/Tauchen) This bill authorizes the UW System Board of Regents to repay up to $50,000 in educational loans obtained by a food animal veterinarian for education leading to a doctor of veterinary medicine degree from an accredited school of veterinary medicine. The veterinarian must agree to practice in this state for at least 35 hours per week and to devote at least 50 percent of those hours, for four years, to food animals. (Food animals are animals raised to produce food for human consumption.) Loans are repaid by the board over the four-year period.
Under the bill, loan repayments are funded from general purpose revenue (although the bill does not provide general purpose revenue for the current biennium) and from contributions from local governments and private entities. If funds are insufficient to repay the loans of all eligible applicants, the board must establish priorities based upon the following:
- The likelihood that the veterinarian will remain in this state.
- Whether the veterinarian graduated from the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine and practices with a private agriculture producer.
- The geographic distribution of veterinarians in the program.
UW System Position
Support: Farm animal veterinary medicine is crucial to Wisconsin’s agricultural industry, food safety, and public health. However, our state is facing a major shortage of food animal veterinarians. This is due to both retirements and recruitment challenges within the field.
This legislation sets up the framework for a loan remission program for students who pursue food animal veterinary medicine and practice in Wisconsin after they graduate. This program would help increase recruitment critically needed to address the shortage in Wisconsin’s food animal veterinary workforce.
This bill does not provide funding for the loan repayment program. However, it does create the program infrastructure which can be funded when the fiscal climate improves. Given the limited state resources currently available for student aid, this approach is appropriate. Especially during a time of recession, priority must be placed on the funding need-based financial aid before committing resources to other programs.