NM
New Mexico House Bill HB90

New Mexico 2025 Regular Session

New Mexico House Bill HB90 Compare Versions

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2828 HOUSE BILL 90
2929 57
3030 TH LEGISLATURE
3131 -
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4242 FIRST SESSION
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4545 2025
4646 INTRODUCED BY
4747 Martin R. Zamora and Gail Armstrong
4848 AN ACT
4949 RELATING TO HIGHER EDUCATION; ENACTING THE VETERINARY MEDICAL
5050 LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM; PROVIDING POWERS AND DUTIES;
5151 ESTABLISHING SELECTION CRITERIA AND ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS;
5252 PROVIDING FOR CONTRACTS BETWEEN RECIPIENTS AND THE HIGHER
5353 EDUCATION DEPARTMENT; PROVIDING FOR RELEASE FROM CONTRACT OR
5454 RECOUPMENT; CREATING A FUND; PRESCRIBING A PENALTY; MAKING AN
5555 APPROPRIATION.
5656 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
5757 SECTION 1. [NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--This act may be
5858 cited as the "Veterinary Medical Loan Repayment Act".
5959 SECTION 2. [NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the
6060 Veterinary Medical Loan Repayment Act:
6161 A. "award" means the loan repayment award granted
6262 to a recipient;
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9090 B. "committee" means the veterinarian selection
9191 committee;
9292 C. "department" means the higher education
9393 department;
9494 D. "designated underserved area" means a
9595 municipality or county designated by the committee that does
9696 not have a sufficient number of food-animal veterinarians for
9797 the needs of the veterinary medical service area;
9898 E. "loan" means a grant of money to defray the cost
9999 of tuition and fees for a veterinary medical education under a
100100 contract between the federal government or a commercial lender
101101 and a veterinary medical student requiring repayment of
102102 principal and interest;
103103 F. "recipient" means a veterinarian selected to
104104 participate in the veterinary medical loan repayment program;
105105 and
106106 G. "veterinarian" means a person who graduated from
107107 an accredited school of veterinary medicine and is licensed as
108108 a veterinarian in New Mexico.
109109 SECTION 3. [NEW MATERIAL] DEPARTMENT--POWERS AND DUTIES--
110110 DESIGNATED UNDERSERVED AREAS--COMMITTEE--ELIGIBILITY AND
111111 SELECTION--APPLICANT QUALIFICATIONS.--
112112 A. The department may:
113113 (1) promulgate rules to implement the
114114 provisions of the Veterinary Medical Loan Repayment Act,
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143143 including the factors to be used to identify designated
144144 underserved areas of the state;
145145 (2) delegate to other agencies or contract for
146146 the performance of services required by the Veterinary Medical
147147 Loan Repayment Act; and
148148 (3) grant an award to repay loans to a
149149 recipient on such terms and conditions as determined by rule of
150150 the department.
151151 B. The department, delegated agency or contractor
152152 shall participate in any federal programs that support the
153153 repayment of education loans incurred by veterinarians and
154154 agree to the conditions of a federal program.
155155 C. The department shall appoint an ongoing
156156 "veterinarian selection committee" composed of the state
157157 veterinarian, the New Mexico state university extension
158158 veterinarian and the chair of the board of veterinary medicine,
159159 who all serve ex officio. The committee shall:
160160 (1) select up to ten qualified applicants per
161161 year to participate in the veterinary medical loan repayment
162162 program;
163163 (2) designate food-animal veterinarian
164164 underserved areas of the state and rank them as to need; and
165165 (3) assist the department in determining
166166 eligibility and selection criteria for applicants and
167167 recipients.
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196196 D. An applicant shall be:
197197 (1) a citizen or lawful permanent resident of
198198 the United States;
199199 (2) a resident of New Mexico;
200200 (3) licensed as a veterinarian in New Mexico;
201201 and
202202 (4) employed full time in a private practice
203203 providing food-animal veterinary medical services in a
204204 designated underserved area.
205205 E. The department, with the assistance of the board
206206 of veterinary medicine, shall make a full and careful
207207 investigation of the training, ability, character and other
208208 pertinent qualifications of each applicant and determine
209209 fitness to be a recipient.
210210 F. The board of veterinary medicine shall maintain
211211 a database of employment opportunities for veterinarians in
212212 designated underserved areas.
213213 SECTION 4. [NEW MATERIAL] AWARD CRITERIA--CONTRACT--
214214 TERMS--PAYMENT--PENALTY.--
215215 A. Award criteria shall provide that:
216216 (1) amounts are dependent on the location and
217217 characteristics of the medical practice and the applicant's
218218 total veterinary medical school indebtedness;
219219 (2) preference in making awards shall be to
220220 persons who have graduated from a post-secondary educational
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249249 institution that gives preferential enrollment to New Mexico
250250 residents;
251251 (3) award amounts may be modified based on
252252 available funding or other special circumstances; and
253253 (4) an award shall not exceed the total
254254 veterinary medical education indebtedness of the recipient.
255255 B. The following education debts are not eligible
256256 for repayment pursuant to the Veterinary Medical Loan Repayment
257257 Act:
258258 (1) amounts incurred as a result of
259259 participation in state loan-for-service programs or other state
260260 financial aid programs that require that service be provided in
261261 exchange for financial assistance;
262262 (2) scholarships;
263263 (3) personal loans from friends or relatives;
264264 and
265265 (4) loans that exceed individual standard
266266 school expense levels.
267267 C. The award shall be evidenced by a contract
268268 between the recipient and the department acting on behalf of
269269 the state. The general form of the contract required shall be
270270 approved by the attorney general and signed by the recipient
271271 and the department or the designated representative of the
272272 department on behalf of the state.
273273 D. The contract shall provide for the payment by
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302302 the state of a stated sum to the recipient's debtors and shall
303303 state the obligations of the recipient under the program,
304304 including a minimum four-year period of service, quarterly
305305 reporting requirements and other rules established by the
306306 department.
307307 E. Recipients shall serve a complete year in order
308308 to receive credit for that year. The annual award shall be
309309 established by the department but shall not exceed fifteen
310310 thousand dollars ($15,000) for each of the first two years and
311311 twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for each of the second
312312 two years, for a total not to exceed eighty thousand dollars
313313 ($80,000).
314314 F. If a recipient does not comply with the terms of
315315 the contract, the department shall assess a penalty of up to
316316 three times the amount of the award disbursed plus eighteen
317317 percent interest, unless the department finds acceptable
318318 extenuating circumstances, including those that require release
319319 of contract, as to why the recipient cannot serve or comply
320320 with the terms of the contract. If the department does not
321321 find acceptable extenuating circumstances for the recipient's
322322 failure to comply with the contract, the department shall
323323 require immediate repayment plus the amount of the penalty.
324324 G. The department shall adopt rules to implement
325325 the provisions of this section. The rules may provide for the
326326 disbursement of awards to the lenders of recipients in annual
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355355 or other periodic installments.
356356 SECTION 5. [NEW MATERIAL] RELEASE FROM CONTRACT--CONTRACT
357357 CANCELLATION--ENFORCEMENT.--
358358 A. The department, with recommendation from the
359359 committee, may cancel a contract made between the department
360360 and a recipient for the recipient's failure to comply with
361361 provisions of the contract, the Veterinary Medical Loan
362362 Repayment Act, rules promulgated in accordance with that act or
363363 any other reasonable cause deemed sufficient by the department.
364364 B. The department shall release a recipient from
365365 the contract without penalty if:
366366 (1) the recipient has completed the service
367367 requirements of the contract;
368368 (2) the recipient is unable to complete the
369369 service requirements of the contract due to serious illness or
370370 disability; or
371371 (3) the recipient demonstrates extreme
372372 hardship or other good cause to the department justifying the
373373 release from contract.
374374 C. A decision not to release a recipient from the
375375 contract without penalty is a final agency decision and may be
376376 appealed to the district court as provided in Section 39-3-1.1
377377 NMSA 1978.
378378 D. The department is vested with full and complete
379379 authority and power to sue in its own name for the balance due
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408408 the state from any recipient on a loan repayment contract.
409409 SECTION 6. [NEW MATERIAL] FUND CREATED.--The "veterinary
410410 medical loan repayment fund" is created as a nonreverting fund
411411 in the state treasury. The fund consists of appropriations,
412412 gifts, grants, donations and income from investment of the
413413 fund. Money in the fund shall be used to make awards to
414414 recipients who are in compliance with the recipients'
415415 contracts, the Veterinary Medical Loan Repayment Act and rules
416416 promulgated in accordance with that act. Expenditures from the
417417 fund shall be on warrant of the secretary of finance and
418418 administration pursuant to vouchers signed by the secretary of
419419 higher education or the secretary's authorized representative.
420420 SECTION 7. [NEW MATERIAL] REPORTS.--The department shall
421421 make annual reports to the governor and the legislature prior
422422 to each regular legislative session of the department's
423423 activities, including cohort data and annual and total program
424424 data that shows:
425425 A. the number and amount of awards given;
426426 B. the completion rate of recipients in the
427427 program, the number of recipients who completed the program and
428428 stayed in New Mexico and the number of those recipients who are
429429 practicing in a designated underserved area;
430430 C. the amounts repaid and amounts owed on
431431 educational loans and the total number and total amount of
432432 penalties assessed against recipients who left the program;
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461461 D. the service locations of current and former
462462 recipients in New Mexico;
463463 E. for each designated underserved area in the
464464 state, the number of recipients who are serving or have served
465465 in the area and whether there are recipients who are not
466466 employed or not employed full time in the area; and
467467 F. other information determined by the department.
468468 SECTION 8. APPROPRIATION.--Five million dollars
469469 ($5,000,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the
470470 veterinary medical loan repayment fund for expenditure in
471471 fiscal years 2026 through 2031 to carry out the purposes of the
472472 fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance at the end of a
473473 fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund.
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