AAVMC held it's annual Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill on March 8, as a part of our annual conference. This year was fully in person for the first time in three years, and it was great to have all of our members back on Capitol Hill. There was a total of 82 participants, making 146 meetings with 28 Members of Congress and their senior aides. Our member institutions got an opportunity to discuss their own priorities, as well as the top three priorities for AAVMC, which can be found here.
Photo credit - Imagine Photography for AAVMC
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Avian Flu Prevention
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) highlighted avian influenza prevention and other livestock diseases during the Senate Agriculture Committee hearing with USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. This line of questioning grew directly out of the discussions that the Senator had with University of Minnesota faculty during the AAVMC Advocacy Day. Learn more and a video of the hearing can be found here. The specific details are found at the 2:23:10 mark in the recording.
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FY 2024 US Budget
President Biden released his budget document for FY 2024 on March 9th. The budget document and tables can be found here. While the budget document is a guide to Administration spending priorities, Congress will undoubtedly choose different spending levels for several programs. For some of our key programs, the President has proposed flat funding, holding the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) to $10 million and the Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP) to $4 million. Unfortunately, the President did request a reduction for the Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank (FARAD) from $2.5 million to $2 million. We will continue to work with appropriators in the House and Senate to adequately fund all of our critical programs.
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Federal Student Aid Roadmap |
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The US Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid released a roadmap with key dates and milestones for future action on student aid. In the announcement, found here the Department announced that the new Federal Student Financial Aid Application form, knows as FAFSA, would not be available until December of 2023. The Department has been working on the revised and shortened form for some time and was expected to release the new form early this year.
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The Republican Chairwoman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) has called for the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. In an interview in early March, Rep. Foxx said that she believed that now is the “perfect time” to reauthorize and update the sweeping piece of legislation that governs all federal student loan programs. While we expect that this will be an extremely difficult task in a closely divided Congress, AAVMC will be tracking any developments along this line and working with the Committee as any legislation progresses. The interview can be found here.
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Public Hearings on Higher Education
The US Department of Education announced a series of public hearings on rulemaking for higher education. The listening sessions are designed to receive public input on a series of issues that could arise for future Department rulemaking. These issues include recognition of accrediting agencies, institutional eligibility, distance education, income driven repayment plans, and several other topics. The announcement for these public hearings can be found here.
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Photo Highlights from 2023 Advocacy Day Meetings on Capitol Hill
The following photos are a snapshot of a series of meetings where the profession's top priorities were discussed.
Photo Credit - Imagine Photography for AAVMC
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Dr. Kerry, Rolph, Dr. Sean Callanan, Dr. Hilda Abreu and Judith Munn, Director, Government Relations, Adtalem |
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Brian Phillips Jr., Director of Communications in the office of Rep Yvette Clarke (D-NY) |
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Dr. Sean Callanan, Brian Phillips, Jr. and Dr. Kerry Rolph |
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Kevin Cain, AAVMC and Bailey Archey, Staffer for Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) |
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Sen. Hyde-Smith (R-MS) with Dr. Kent Hoblet, Dr. Natalie Amour, Kevin Cain and Bailey Archey |
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Dr. Kent Hoblet, Sen. Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Bailey Archey and Dr. Natalie Amour |
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Advocacy Letters
The AAVMC continues to work closely with a wide array of organizations that share our interests in supporting the advancement of academic veterinary medicine, food security and public health. The letters below reflect some of that recent activity.
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AAVMC Government Affairs
Please contact: Kevin Cain, Director for Government Affairs at [email protected] or 202-371-9195 (ext. 117) with any comments, questions and suggestions about our program.
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AAVMC Newsletters
The AAVMC is working hard to create a culture of diversity and inclusion in every dimension of academic veterinary medicine. To foster this goal, the photographs and illustrations which are used in our communications programs are aspirational, and do not necessarily reflect the levels of diversity and inclusion that currently exist.
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Sign up here to receive FOCUS, a newsletter that examines prominent issues in academic veterinary medicine. See past issues here.
Sign up for our Advocacy newsletter here. Read past issues here.
Sign up for the newsletter of the Council on International Veterinary Medical Education (CIVME) here. Read past issues here.
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American Association of Veterinary
Medical Colleges
202-371-9195
655 K Street, NW, Suite 725
Washington, D.C., 20001
www.aavmc.org
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