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House Bill 1684 |
House Author: Brown, Betty et al. |
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Effective: See below |
Senate Sponsor: Estes |
House Bill 1684 amends the Government Code to require the Office of Rural Community Affairs (ORCA) to establish and administer a program to provide loan repayment assistance to veterinarians who agree to practice veterinary medicine on livestock or deer in a designated rural area. The bill authorizes ORCA's governing board to provide such assistance for up to four years to repay any education loan, except a loan in default, that has been received by the veterinarian through any lender for education at any veterinary school that awards a degree that meets the study requirements to obtain a license to practice veterinary medicine in Texas. The bill sets forth the required components of the agreement a person must execute to qualify, including a requirement that a loan recipient practice for one full year in a designated area for each year of repayment assistance. The agreement must require a promissory note. Amounts under such notes are to be deposited in the permanent endowment fund for the rural communities health care investment program. The bill requires, of the amount available for distribution from the fund not used to pay expenses of fund management, one-half to be appropriated for loan repayment assistance and one-half for loan reimbursement and stipend programs to assist communities in recruiting health professionals to practice in medically underserved areas. Provisions relating to that fund and repayment assistance take effect September 1, 2009, but only if the comptroller of public accounts has published in the Texas Register a determination that a specific appropriation has been made for the bill's implementation. The rest of the bill takes effect August 31, 2009.