MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2024 Regular Session
To: Universities and Colleges; Appropriations
By: Senator(s) Rhodes, Berry, Younger, Whaley, Boyd, Branning, Robinson, McCaughn, Suber
AN ACT TO CREATE NEW SECTION 37-113-55, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ESTABLISH THE DR. ELTON MAC HUDDLESTON RURAL VETERINARIAN SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM AT MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY TO PROVIDE SCHOLARSHIPS TO ASSIST RESIDENTS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI IN PURSUING DEGREES IN VETERINARY MEDICINE; TO CREATE NEW SECTION 37-113-56, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE DEFINITIONS FOR THE PROGRAM; TO CREATE NEW SECTION 37-113-57, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO SET APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY AND PROGRAM PREFERENCE; TO PROVIDE FOR MEMBERSHIP OF THE PROGRAM'S SCHOLARSHIP SELECTION COMMITTEE; TO REQUIRE SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH THE PROGRAM TO PROVIDE FULL-TIME VETERINARY MEDICINE SERVICES AS A FOOD SUPPLY ANIMAL VETERINARIAN OR IN A RURAL MIXED ANIMAL VETERINARY PRACTICE FOR FOUR YEARS IN ONE OR MORE COMMUNITIES APPROVED BY THE PROGRAM; TO REQUIRE SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS TO REMAIN IN GOOD ACADEMIC STANDING TO CONTINUE TO RECEIVE A SCHOLARSHIP; TO PROVIDE THAT SCHOLARSHIP PRIORITY SHALL BE GIVEN TO RESIDENTS OF THE STATE; TO AUTHORIZE THE PROGRAM TO ADOPT ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS, REQUIREMENTS OR CONDITIONS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROGRAM AS ARE PRACTICABLE AND APPROPRIATE TO ACCOMPLISH THE PROVISIONS OF THE ACT; TO CREATE NEW SECTION 37-113-58, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT SUBJECT TO THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS, EACH STUDENT ENTERING INTO A PROGRAM AGREEMENT MAY RECEIVE ASSISTANCE IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF IN-STATE TUITION CHARGED AT THE MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE PER YEAR FOR NOT MORE THAN FOUR YEARS FOR TUITION AND FEES INCURRED BY THE STUDENT IN PURSUING A VETERINARY MEDICINE DEGREE; TO CREATE NEW SECTION 37-113-59, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE REASONS FOR WHEN A SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT MAY BE RELEASED FROM THE PROGRAM; TO PROVIDE THAT IF A VETERINARIAN IS RELEASED FROM HIS OR HER CONTRACT, THE PROGRAM MAY RECOVER A PORTION OF OR ALL OF THE PAYMENTS MADE TO SUCH VETERINARIAN; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section 37-113-55, Mississippi Code of 1972:
37-113-55. (1) The Dr. Elton Mac Huddleston Rural Veterinarian Scholarship Program is hereby established by Mississippi State University to provide scholarships to assist residents of the state of Mississippi in pursuing degrees in veterinary medicine.
(2) The program shall be developed and implemented in order to provide encouragement, opportunities and incentives for persons pursuing a veterinary medicine degree at Mississippi State University to provide veterinary services in rural Mississippi communities and receive specialized training to meet the needs of rural Mississippians and livestock producers in rural Mississippi communities.
(3) The dean of the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine shall establish and administer the Dr. Elton Mac Huddleston Rural Veterinarian Scholarship Program to support the veterinary medicine education of two veterinary students on average per academic year. Each student may be funded for a four-year period.
SECTION 2. The following shall be codified as Section 37-113-56, Mississippi Code of 1972:
37-113-56. For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed herein:
(a) "Veterinary student" means a student enrolled in the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
(b) "Food supply animal" includes cattle, hogs, sheep, goats and poultry.
(c) "Food supply animal veterinarian" means a veterinarian who is engaged in general or food supply animal practice as his or her primary focus of practice and who has thirty percent (30%) of his or her practice devoted to food supply animal veterinary medicine.
(d) "Large animal veterinarians" means veterinarians whose practice is focused primarily on the health and safety of farm animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and horses; a large animal veterinarian must spend sixty percent (60%) of their time providing care for large animals.
(e) "Program" means the Dr. Elton Mac Huddleston Rural Veterinarian Scholarship Program as managed by the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
(f) "Rural community" means an area of the state with a population density less than five hundred (500) people per square mile as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture.
(g) "Rural mixed animal veterinary practice" means practice in a rural community with provision of care to both small animals (dogs or cats) and large animals (cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, or horses); the veterinarian must spend a minimum of thirty percent (30%) of their time providing care to large animals.
SECTION 3. The following shall be codified as Section 37-113-57, Mississippi Code of 1972:
37-113-57. (1) Subject to the availability of funds, the Program may enter into agreements with up to four first-year veterinary students each year as determined by the Program.
(2) To be eligible for funds under the Program, recipients shall:
(a) Be a student of the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine;
(b) Agree to become licensed to practice veterinary medicine in Mississippi upon graduation;
(c) Complete all requirements in public health, livestock biosecurity, foreign animal disease diagnosis, regulatory veterinary medicine and zoonotic disease, and an externship and mentoring requirement with a licensed, accredited veterinarian in a rural area, as required by the veterinary medical school;
(d) Enter into a contract with the Program to provide full-time veterinary medicine services as a food supply animal veterinarian or in a rural mixed animal veterinary practice for four years in one or more communities approved by the Program;
(e) Commence the full-time practice of veterinary medicine in a rural community within ninety (90) days after completion of the person's degree program, or if the person enters a post-degree training program, such as a graduate school or internship or residency program, within ninety (90) days after completion of the post-degree training program; and
(f) Be accredited by the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services to provide services relating to food supply animals within six (6) months of graduation or passage of veterinary medical boards.
(3) A selection committee made up of faculty and rural mixed/large animal practitioners shall be assembled by the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine. The committee shall conduct a process that is independent from the Admissions Committee. The committee shall review applications, conduct virtual or in-person interviews and select recipients.
(4) Priority shall be given to Mississippi residents. If the number of Mississippi residents applying for funds is less than the number of slots available, nonresident students may be considered. Nonresident students may only receive funds sufficient to pay for in-state tuition, and they must meet the same obligations as in-state students.
(5) Scholarship recipients must remain in good academic standing to continue to receive a scholarship from the program. If a student is dismissed or withdraws from the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine, the Program will assess the circumstances and make a recommendation on whether the student must reimburse the tuition program.
(6) The Program shall give preference for approving communities for purposes of subsection (2)(d) of this section to communities located in areas designated by the American Veterinary Medical Association and/or the United States Department of Agriculture as veterinary shortage areas.
(7) The Program may adopt additional provisions, requirements or conditions to participate in this program as are practicable and appropriate to accomplish the provisions of the program or may be required for the implementation or administration of the program and are not inconsistent with the provisions of this section.
SECTION 4. The following shall be codified as Section 37-113-58, Mississippi Code of 1972:
37-113-58. (1) Subject to the availability of funds, each student entering into a program agreement under this section may receive assistance in an amount not to exceed the amount of in-state tuition charged at the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine per year for not more than four (4) years for tuition and fees incurred by the student in pursuing a veterinary medicine degree. Upon satisfaction of all commitments under the provisions of the agreement and the provisions of this section, the financial obligations of a student receiving such tuition assistance shall be deemed satisfied and forgiven.
(2) If funds go unused, or funds are returned by graduate veterinarians, such funds shall roll over into the next year. The appropriation request for the Program for the following year may be adjusted accordingly. The appropriation request and Program may be scaled back if a saturation point is reached and the shortage of veterinary services in rural Mississippi is addressed.
SECTION 5. The following shall be codified as Section 37-113-59, Mississippi Code of 1972:
37-113-59. (1) A veterinarian shall be released from the Program contract without penalty if:
(a) The veterinarian has completed the service requirements of the contract;
(b) The veterinarian is unable to complete the service requirements of the contract because of a permanent physical disability;
(c) The veterinarian demonstrates extreme hardship or shows other good cause justifying the release; or
(d) The veterinarian dies.
(2) An obligation to engage in the practice of veterinary medicine in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be postponed during:
(a) Any period of temporary medical disability during which the person obligated is unable to practice veterinary medicine due to the disability; and
(b) Any other period of postponement agreed to or determined in accordance with criteria agreed to in the practice agreement.
(3) A veterinarian shall be released from further performance of veterinary services under the Program contract if he or she is unable to perform his or her contractual obligations to provide veterinary services due to the suspension or revocation of his or her federal accreditation or denial, refusal of renewal, limitation, suspension, revocation, or other disciplinary measure taken against his or her license to practice in Mississippi as provided in the Mississippi Veterinary Practice Act. If a veterinarian is released from his or her contract pursuant to this subsection, the Program may recover a portion of or all of the payments made to such veterinarian under 37-113-58. The Program may use appropriate remedies available to enforce this subsection.
(4) Upon the failure of a person to satisfy the obligation to engage in the full-time practice of veterinary medicine in a rural community in accordance with the provisions of this section with no just cause as outlined in subsection (1), that person shall repay to the Program, within ninety (90) days of such failure to pay, the amount equal to the assistance provided to the person less a prorated amount based on any periods of practice of veterinary medicine meeting the requirements of this section, plus interest at the prime rate of interest plus two percent (2%) from the date the assistance accrued. Such interest shall be compounded annually.
SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.