Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural Communities Act
Sponsored By: Senator Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]
Passed Senate
Summary
This bill would add _public health veterinary services_ to the Indian Health Care Improvement Act so the Indian Health Service can fund and deliver veterinary disease prevention and control to Tribal communities using a One Health approach.
Show full summary
- Tribal communities would get local public health veterinary services like spaying and neutering, vaccination, diagnosis, surveillance, and control to reduce zoonotic disease risks to people and animals.
- The Indian Health Service would be authorized to fund and deploy veterinary public health officers from the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and to coordinate activities with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Agriculture.
- The bill would require reports to Congress every two years on fund use, officer deployments, and disease surveillance data and would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to complete a feasibility study within one year on delivering oral rabies vaccine to Arctic wildlife reservoirs.
Your PRIA Score
Personalized for You
How does this bill affect your finances?
Sign up for a PRIA Policy Scan to see your personalized alignment score for this bill and every other piece of legislation we track. We analyze your financial profile against policy provisions to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.
Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Veterinary public health help in Tribal areas
If enacted, HHS would fund public health veterinary services in Tribal communities with high disease risk. Services could include spay and neuter, diagnosis, surveillance, vaccination, and steps against antibiotic resistance. The Secretary could deploy Public Health Service veterinary officers to these areas. The program would coordinate with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Agriculture. The Secretary would report to Congress every two years on spending, deployments, and disease data.
Indian Health Service added to One Health
The bill would add the Indian Health Service Director to the One Health Framework. This would strengthen interagency planning for diseases shared by people and animals. It would not change who gets benefits or payments. Effective upon enactment.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]
AK • R
Cosponsors
Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM]
NM • D
Sponsored 2/18/2025
Gary Peters
MI • D
Sponsored 2/18/2025
Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI]
HI • D
Sponsored 2/18/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov