Financial News

The Veterinary Workforce Expansion Act (S 914/HR 2206) is currently being considered by the United States House of Representatives and Senate. 

This bill, if passed, would provide an average of $150 million per year for the next ten years in the form of competitive grants to help increase the number of veterinarians entering public practice.  The American Veterinary Medical Association, with information provided by many other organizations and institutions, conservatively estimates a current deficit of 1500 public health veterinarians (e.g., USDA Food Safety and Animal Disease Control, Homeland Security, research on domestic and foreign animal diseases, wildlife disease control, laboratory animal care and research).  This shortage will only increase as the human population increases without intervention. 

It has been over 30 years since the federal government has allocated funds to increase the number of veterinarians that graduate each year.  If passed and funded, this bill would allow the nation’s veterinary schools and other institutions training public health veterinarians to apply for competitive grants to increase capacity in the form of classrooms, teaching laboratories, research facilities, and administrative space.  This bill is vital to the nation’s ability to protect human and animal health, as veterinarians are often the first line of defense for both. 

The text of the bill can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov by searching by the bill numbers listed above.  A list of co-sponsors to the bill can also be found via that site by selecting the link entitled “Bill Summary & Status”.  As of March 22, 2006, there were 34 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives and 17 in the Senate. 

The American Veterinary Medical Association encourages you to write to your senators and representatives to encourage them to support and possibly co-sponsor this important piece of legislation. 

Questions about this issue can be addressed to Dr. Robert Nichols III of the AVMA Governmental Relations Division by calling (202) 289-3204.