Veterinary medicine loan repayment

Section 1415A of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3151a) is amended— (1) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows: (b) Determination of veterinarian shortage situations In determining veterinarian shortage situations, the Secretary— (1) may consider— (A) geographical areas that the Secretary determines have a shortage of veterinarians; (B) areas of veterinary practice that the Secretary determines have a shortage of veterinarians, such as food animal medicine, public health, epidemiology, and food safety; and (C) areas described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) identified by appropriate State agencies; and (2) shall— (A) develop quantitative mechanisms for predicting the emergence of new veterinarian shortage situations in the short-term and long-term; and (B) make available to State agencies described in paragraph (1)(C) the quantitative mechanisms developed under subparagraph (A).; and (2) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the following: (9) Eligibility The Secretary shall not make a veterinarian ineligible for the program under this section based on a veterinarian's participation in a comparable Federal, State, or local program. (10) Application process Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Agricultural Act of 2026, the Secretary shall establish streamlined application procedures and guidelines for entering into agreements with veterinarians under this section..