Deficits threaten profession at state level

Austin, Texas- Last month, Executive Director Ron Allen sliced $44,000 off his budget, ordered his staff to take unpaid vacation days and faces the possible consolidation of the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (TBVME) with all other state licensing agencies.

As head of TBVME, Allen's plight is far from unique. With the nationfacing an estimated $25.7 billion in widening state deficits for the 2002-2003fiscal year, a spending squeeze has swallowed funds once earmarked for stateagencies. Veterinary medical associations are fighting to grasp fleetingresources, but to little or no avail. Allen's office can no longer affordtravel to inspect license compliance cases, and there's little the TexasVeterinary Medical Association (TVMA) can do about it.

"We're trying to rat hole a little money away for inspectors togo out if we hear somebody's doing something pretty bad, but it would haveto be pretty awful," Allen says. "It's a shame we're having tocut back. The state just can't write checks in the red."

Waging an uphill battle

The same goes for California, where Dr. Dick Schumacher, head of theCalifornia Veterinary Medical Association, struggles against an estimated$35 billion deficit by 2004 to protect the state's veterinary college andgovernment-level veterinary facilities from debilitating cuts.

"The governor's budget proposal is going to have a real devastatingeffect on at least the food animal department at UC Davis," he says."We're working to protect our labs, our animal experimentation station.Nobody's going to be OK. There's no way in California that you're not goingto hurt. Our job is to make sure veterinary medicine doesn't incur any morethan its fair share."

University of Florida's veterinary college, by comparison, has enduredthree consecutive years of cuts at the state level. The same goes for itsveterinary technician training programs, says Donald Schaefer, Florida VeterinaryMedical Association's executive director. The state's estimated $4 billiondeficit has Schaefer's office reeling, he says.

"In these tough economic times, it becomes more important for stateveterinary medical associations to do their job and to do (it) well,"he says. "We want this industry to run smoothly. These last two yearshave been terrible for veterinary medicine and the coming years look tobe worse."

One up for profession?

But for now, consumer services in Texas might be saved as TVMA lobbyistChris Copeland persuades the state to throw out plans to merge the veterinarylicensing board with the licensing groups for funeral directors, pharmacists,dentists and roughly 20 other agencies.

"We're defending our budgets," he says. "I understandthat with a deficit of this size you have to look at everything, every dollarbeing spent in the state. But for the most part, veterinarians are pleasedwith the services we provide. I'm trying my best to make sure it stays thatway."