SB20: SB20 Veterinarians; student loan repayment; who practice shelter medicine and in nonprofit pet sterilization clinics; provide; create the State Veterinary Education Board for Shelter Medicine and Pet Sterilization

Georgia already lets taxpayers donate part of their tax refund or a few dollars on their driver's license fee to help pay college costs for children and spouses of law enforcement officers, firefighters, and similar workers killed or permanently disabled on the job. This bill raises the maximum grant from $2,000 a year (capped at $8,000 total) to $18,000 a year, capped at $72,000 total, and extends eligibility to public school teachers and employees killed or disabled by an act of violence in the line of duty. Separately, the bill overhauls the State Veterinary Education Board, adding two new members: someone who runs an animal shelter or nonprofit pet sterilization clinic, and a veterinarian who works in shelter medicine or sterilization services. It creates a new loan repayment program, funded through state appropriations, that pays down up to $75,000 in student loans for veterinarians who work full time in shelter medicine or nonprofit pet sterilization clinics, in exchange for a three-year service commitment. The veterinary provisions take effect January 1, 2026.

• Raises the Public Safety Memorial Grant from $2,000 per year (capped at $8,000 total) to as much as $18,000 per year, capped at $72,000 total per recipient.
• Extends the grant program to children and spouses of public school teachers and public school employees killed or permanently disabled by an act of violence in the line of duty.
• Updates the tax return and driver's license charitable donation programs that fund these grants to include public school employees and teachers starting with tax year 2026.
• Adds two new members to the State Veterinary Education Board: an animal shelter or nonprofit pet sterilization clinic administrator, and a shelter medicine or sterilization veterinarian.
• Creates a new loan repayment program paying up to $75,000 (at $25,000 per 12 months of service) for veterinarians who work full time in shelter medicine or nonprofit pet sterilization clinics, limited to four new agreements per year and requiring a three-year service contract.
• Requires the board to keep the funding for this new veterinary loan program separate from its existing veterinary loan repayment program for rural and food-animal veterinarians.

Children and spouses of law enforcement officers, firefighters, prison guards, EMTs, highway emergency response operators, and now public school teachers and employees who are killed or disabled on duty; the Georgia Student Finance Authority; the Department of Revenue and Department of Driver Services; the State Veterinary Education Board; and veterinarians working in animal shelters or nonprofit spay and neuter clinics.

Families of workers killed or disabled in qualifying jobs could receive substantially more college financial help, and families of school employees hurt in violent incidents gain access to a benefit they did not previously have. Veterinarians who choose lower paying shelter or sterilization work could get meaningful student loan relief, potentially easing staffing shortages at shelters and low-cost spay and neuter clinics.

• Section 1-1 updates O.C.G.A. § 20-3-316.2 so tax return and driver's license donation programs, effective for 2026, also fund grants for families of public school employees and teachers, not just first responders.
• Section 2-3 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 20-3-452 to raise the per-year grant cap from $2,000 to $18,000 and the lifetime cap from $8,000 to $72,000.
• Section 2-4 revises eligibility rules in O.C.G.A. § 20-3-453, including allowing eligibility even if the qualifying death or injury happened before July 1, 2025.
• Section 3-1 adds new Subpart 7C (O.C.G.A. § 20-3-466) creating a parallel grant program specifically for children and spouses of public school teachers and employees killed or disabled by an act of violence on the job, with the same $18,000/$72,000 caps.
• Section 4-2 amends O.C.G.A. § 20-3-518.2 to add two new gubernatorial appointees to the State Veterinary Education Board and lets the board form committees to oversee loan purchases.
• Section 4-3 adds new Part 6B (O.C.G.A. §§ 20-3-518.8 through 20-3-518.11), creating the loan repayment program for shelter medicine and pet sterilization veterinarians, capped at $75,000 per person and four new contracts per year, starting January 1, 2026.
• Section 4-3 requires a three-year service contract for loan purchase recipients and bars anyone from receiving the benefit more than once in their lifetime.

1. 2025-05-14Effective Date 2025-07-01
2. 2025-05-14Act 304
3. 2025-05-14Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
4. 2025-04-10Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
5. 2025-04-04Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub (Senate)
6. 2025-04-02House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
7. 2025-04-02House Third Readers (House)
8. 2025-04-02House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)

• Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-032)Primary sponsor
• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)
• Chuck Payne (R, SD-054)
• Lee Anderson (R, SD-024)
• Elena Parent (D, SD-044)
• Scott Hilton (R, HD-048)

1. PassedSenate voteMarch 3, 2025

   54 yea, 2 nay

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #116

2. PassedHouse voteApril 2, 2025

   160 yea, 5 nay (2 not voting, 13 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #399

3. PassedSenate voteApril 4, 2025

   50 yea, 2 nay (2 not voting, 2 absent)

   Agree To House Substitute: Senate Vote #450

• veterinary loan repayment
• animal shelters
• public safety survivor benefits
• school employee benefits
• student financial aid