Legislature passes joint USU-WSU vet program bill

A bill establishing a joint veterinary medicine program between Utah State University and Washington State University now goes to Utah Gov. Gary Herbert for his signature. The legislation, known as House Bill 57, passed the Senate 24-2 late Wednesday. The bill was held for weeks in the Legislature because lawmakers wanted to make sure they could find money in the budget before voting on it. The program will use $1.7 million of ongoing annual funding from the state for the first and second years. After the program has been established for four years, it will use $3 million of annual ongoing funding, part of which will be used to offset tuition when Utah students are enrolled at Washington State during the third and fourth years of the program. Herald Journal