Letter Supporting Rural Veterinary Workforce Act

Letter

Rural Veterinary Workforce Act
Statement of Support (118th Congress)

Congress is urged to pass the Rural Veterinary Workforce Act, formerly known as the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) Enhancement Act, to bolster access to veterinary care for livestock and poultry (beef cattle, dairy cattle, swine, chickens, turkeys, meat goats, dairy goats, sheep, llamas, alpacas, aquaculture, farmed deer and elk, etc.).

Passage of the bill will also help each state address its needs for public practice veterinarians (food safety, public health, epidemiology, pathology, molecular diagnostics, virology, toxicology, immunology, bacteriology, serology, foreign animal disease preparedness, and livestock infectious diseases).

The tax treatment of the VMLRP is handled differently than it is for the analogous program for physicians and other human healthcare providers. Currently, the awards are included in the gross income of the recipient and the USDA is required to pay the associated tax on their behalf out of congressionally appropriated funds for the program. Removing the current tax treatment of these awards will allow more ranchers and farmers in rural America to gain better access to a wide array of veterinary services needed for their livestock and poultry.

Since the inception of the VMLRP in FY2010, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has made 795 awards as new and renewal service agreements. In that time, NIFA received 2,061 applications from 1,451 unique applicants. Had these awards been exempt from the current tax treatment, roughly one additional veterinarian would have been selected to practice in communities throughout rural America for every three awards made.

Every American community deserves ready access to veterinarians. Congress can ensure our nation’s livestock and poultry are healthy, our food supply is safe and secure, and public health is protected by passing the Rural Veterinary Workforce Act.

Sincerely,

National Organizations
American Veterinary Medical Association
American Academy of Veterinary Acupuncture
American Academy of Veterinary Nutrition
American Animal Hospital Association
American Association of Avian Pathologists
American Association of Bovine Practitioners
American Association of Equine Practitioners
American Association of Feline Practitioners
American Association of Food Safety & Public Health Veterinarians
American Association of Industry Veterinarians
American Association of Small Ruminant Practitioners
American Association of Swine Veterinarians
American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians
American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges
American Association of Zoo Veterinarians
American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine
American College of Poultry Veterinarians
American College of Theriogenologists
American College of Veterinary Radiology
American Farm Bureau Federation
American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association
American Horse Council
American Society of Animal Science
American Veterinary One Health Association
Animal Health Institute
BioNexus KC
Boehringer Ingelheim
Farm Journal Foundation
Livestock Marketing Association
National Assembly of State Animal Health Officials
National Association of Federal Veterinarians
National Association of State Departments of Agriculture
National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
National Chicken Council
National Institute for Animal Agriculture
National Livestock Producers Association
National Milk Producers Federation
National Pork Producers Council
National Turkey Federation
North American Meat Institute
North American Renderers Association
Pride Veterinary Medical Community
R-CALF USA
Society for Theriogenology
Student American Veterinary Medical Association
USPOULTRY
Veterinary Medical Association Executives
Zoetis 

State Organizations
Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries
Alabama Veterinary Medical Association
Alaska State Veterinary Medical Association
Arkansas Veterinary Medical Association
California Department of Food and Agriculture
California Veterinary Medical Association
Connecticut Veterinary Medical Association
Delaware Veterinary Medical Association
District of Columbia Veterinary Medical Association
Florida Veterinary Medical Association
Georgia Department of Agriculture
Georgia Veterinary Medical Association
Idaho Veterinary Medical Association
Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association
Indiana Veterinary Medical Association
Iowa Veterinary Medical Association
Kansas Veterinary Medical Association
KC Animal Health Corridor
Kentucky Veterinary Medical Association
Louisiana Veterinary Medical Association
Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry
Maryland Veterinary Medical Association
Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association
Michigan Allied Poultry Industries
Michigan Veterinary Medical Association
Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association
Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine
Mississippi Valley Veterinary Medical Association
Mississippi Veterinary Medical Association
Missouri Department of Agriculture
Missouri Veterinary Medical Association
Montana Veterinary Medical Association
Nebraska Department of Agriculture
Nebraska Veterinary Medical Association
Nevada Veterinary Medical Association
New Hampshire Veterinary Medical Association
New Jersey Veterinary Medical Association
New Mexico Veterinary Medical Association
New York State Veterinary Medical Society
North Carolina Veterinary Medical Association
North Dakota Veterinary Medical Association
Ohio Veterinary Medical Association
Oklahoma Veterinary Medical Association
Oregon Veterinary Medical Association
Rhode Island Veterinary Medical Association
Rocky Mountain Farmers Union
South Carolina Association of Veterinarians
Tennessee Veterinary Medical Association
Texas Veterinary Medical Association
Vermont Veterinary Medical Association
Virginia Veterinary Medical Association
Washington State University
Washington State Veterinary Medical Association
Wyoming Veterinary Medical Association

Agricultural Coalition

Support for Rural Veterinary Workforce Act