{"data":{"id":"us-co/c.r.s.-23-31-1001","jurisdiction":"us-co","citation":"C.R.S. § 23-31-1001","heading":"Legislative declaration.","body":"(1) The general assembly finds and determines that:\n\n(a) More than one-third of rural communities in Colorado have at most one livestock-oriented veterinarian, thus leaving the owners of hundreds of thousands of livestock with little or no access to veterinary medicine;\n\n(b) Food security and safety are directly linked to animal health;\n\n(c) Colorado plays a key role in meeting our growing population's increasing demand for protein;\n\n(d) According to nationwide market statistics developed for the American Veterinary Medical Association, less than five percent of veterinarians in the United States practice predominantly on livestock;\n\n(e) Rural veterinarians play a critical role in protecting the health of animals and humans;\n\n(f) Many graduates of Colorado state university's college of veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences were raised in rural areas and are interested in livestock-oriented practice; however, these graduates often feel limited to practice in areas of the state with higher starting salaries due to their loan repayment obligations; and\n\n(g) Loan forgiveness and repayment programs in other states have improved veterinarians' ability to pursue veterinary practices in rural areas.\n\n(2) Therefore, the general assembly determines and declares that a veterinary education loan repayment program would benefit Colorado by providing financial incentives for veterinarians to practice in rural areas in which veterinary needs are not currently being met.","path":["Title 23 - POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION","Article 31 - Colorado State University","Part 10 - VETERINARY EDUCATION LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM"],"source_url":"https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-23.htm","current_through":"Colorado Revised Statutes 2026","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:37:45Z","sha256":"22cf0132cf2aee15e5aa9f78e5f5661df18e8a8da28797ac79b257713face67b","source_id":"us-co","stale":false,"prev":"us-co/c.r.s.-23-31-905","next":"us-co/c.r.s.-23-31-1002"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}