Bill would offer tuition reimbursements to recruit veterinarians to underserved rural Montana

Representative Randon Gregg presented House Bill 860, the Rural Montana Veterinarian Workforce Act, proposing tuition reimbursement (up to $100,000) for DVM students who commit to practice in prioritized, underserved areas of Montana. Gregg said the bill targets student debt as the driving factor behind low rural veterinary staffing and cited average DVM debt above $300,000.

Gregg said the bill was modeled on successful programs in other agricultural states, would be administered through the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education (OCHE) with an advisory board, and the fiscal ask in the bill as drafted was $425,000 (with technical amendments and a 10‑year sunset planned). Jocelyn Cahill of Rocky Vista University College of Veterinary Medicine testified in support and said the fiscal note accounted for mixtures of three‑ and four‑year DVM programs.

Dave Wansensried, who assisted drafting and the fiscal note, and Aaron McNay of the Department of Revenue testified as informational witnesses. McNay explained the fiscal note’s DOR treatment: the bill exempts loan forgiveness from Montana personal income tax, which would slightly reduce taxable income when forgiveness occurs; committee members noted that loan forgiveness and any tax exemption effects may fall outside the fiscal note’s short time horizon.

Committee questions included how to define “underserved” areas; Wansensried and Gregg said the bill allows the commissioner and an advisory committee to set and refine the definition (noting USDA metrics and county‑level measures). Members also asked whether the program should be limited to Montana residents; Gregg said the program prioritizes Montana residents but is written to allow applicants from any accredited DVM program so long as recipients commit to practicing in Montana. The committee did not vote at the hearing.