United States 119th Congress Status: Passed Senate Bipartisan · 3 D · 1 R cosponsors

S 620 — Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural Communities Act

Last action — Held at the desk.

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced February 18, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.

Next likely step: consideration and a floor vote in the House.

Odds of enactment

Moderate chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a moderate chance of becoming law.

Upgrade to see the exact probability and what's driving it.

A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Advancing 50% · moderate confidence

  • Passed Senate

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 4 sponsors

    1 primary, 3 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (3 D · 1 R) — cross-party backing.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural Communities ActThis bill expands support for public health veterinary services (e.g., disease surveillance or vaccination) in tribal communities to address zoonotic infectious diseases (i.e., diseases that spread between humans and animals).Specifically, the bill authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Indian Health Service (IHS), to expend funds for public health veterinary services to prevent and control zoonotic disease infection and transmission in IHS areas where the risk for disease occurrence in humans and wildlife is endemic.HHS may assign or deploy veterinary public health officers from the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps to IHS areas.Additionally, HHS must submit a biennial report to Congress on the use of funds, the assignment and deployment of veterinary public health officers from the USPHS Commissioned Corps, data related to the monitoring and disease surveillance of zoonotic diseases, and related services.The bill also includes the IHS as a coordinating agency in the National One Health Framework. (This framework addresses zoonotic diseases and advances public health preparedness in the United States.)The bill requires the Department of Agriculture to conduct a feasibility study on the delivery of oral rabies vaccines to wildlife reservoir species that are connected to the transmission of rabies to tribal members living in Arctic regions of the United States. The study must (1) evaluate the efficacy of the oral rabies vaccines, and (2) make recommendations to improve the delivery of these vaccines.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

6 added · 16 removed

Plain-language change summary

The amendment adds the date when the Senate passed the bill, December 11, 2025, and includes an attestation from the Secretary. It removes the introductory details about the bill's introduction and its referral to the Committee on Indian Affairs. This change focuses on streamlining the information related to the passage of the bill rather than its introduction or committee status.

→
Previous
Latest
620 Reported in Senate (RS)] <DOC> Calendar No.
620 Engrossed in Senate (ES)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session S.
174 119th CONGRESS 1st Session S.
620 _______________________________________________________________________ AN ACT To provide public health veterinary services to Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations for rabies prevention, and for other purposes.
620 [Report No.
119-69] To provide public health veterinary services to Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations for rabies prevention, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES February 18, 2025 Ms.
Murkowski (for herself, Mr.
Heinrich, Mr.
Peters, and Mr.
Schatz) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs September 29, 2025 Reported by Ms.
Murkowski, without amendment _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To provide public health veterinary services to Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations for rabies prevention, and for other purposes.
Calendar No.
Passed the Senate December 11, 2025.
174 119th CONGRESS 1st Session S.
Attest:
620 [Report No.
Secretary.
119-69] _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To provide public health veterinary services to Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations for rabies prevention, and for other purposes.
119th CONGRESS 1st Session S.
_______________________________________________________________________ September 29, 2025 Reported without amendment
620 _______________________________________________________________________ AN ACT To provide public health veterinary services to Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations for rabies prevention, and for other purposes.
⬇ Download PDF
View plain text versions (3)

What Congress says this changes

S. Rept. 119-69

Published by the reporting committee Not generated — this is the committee's own “Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported”.

Text to be removed appears in [brackets]. Newly inserted text is italicised in the official report and cannot be marked in this plain-text rendition — read the official PDF ↗ for the authoritative formatting. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

 In the opinion of the Committee, it is necessary to 
dispense with the requirements of subsection 12 of rule XXVI of 
the Standing Rules of the Senate to expedite business of the 
Senate.

Source: S. Rept. 119-69 · govinfo

Action History

  1. Introduced in Senate

  2. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.

  3. Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.

  4. Committee on Indian Affairs. Reported by Senator Murkowski without amendment. With written report No. 119-69.

  5. Committee on Indian Affairs. Reported by Senator Murkowski without amendment. With written report No. 119-69.

  6. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 174.

  7. Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.

  8. Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S8687; text: CR S8687)

  9. Message on Senate action sent to the House.

  10. Received in the House.

  11. Held at the desk.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

1 sponsors · 3 co-sponsors · 543 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (3)

Not signed on (543)

543 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 543 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

public-safety healthcare agriculture
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does S 620 do?
Veterinary Services to Improve Public Health in Rural Communities ActThis bill expands support for public health veterinary services (e.g., disease surveillance or vaccination) in tribal communities to address zoonotic infectious diseases (i.e., diseases that spread between humans and animals).Specifically, the bill authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Indian Health Service (IHS), to expend funds for public health veterinary services to prevent and control zoonotic disease infection and transmission in IHS areas where the risk for disease occurrence in humans and wildlife is endemic.HHS may assign or deploy veterinary public health officers from the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps to IHS areas.Additionally, HHS must submit a biennial report to Congress on the use of funds, the assignment and deployment of veterinary public health officers from the USPHS Commissioned Corps, data related to the monitoring and disease surveillance of zoonotic diseases, and related services.The bill also includes the IHS as a coordinating agency in the National One Health Framework. (This framework addresses zoonotic diseases and advances public health preparedness in the United States.)The bill requires the Department of Agriculture to conduct a feasibility study on the delivery of oral rabies vaccines to wildlife reservoir species that are connected to the transmission of rabies to tribal members living in Arctic regions of the United States. The study must (1) evaluate the efficacy of the oral rabies vaccines, and (2) make recommendations to improve the delivery of these vaccines.
Who sponsors S 620?
S 620 is sponsored by Murkowski, Lisa (Republican), Heinrich, Martin (Democratic), Peters, Gary C. (Democratic), and Schatz, Brian (Democratic).
What is the current status of S 620?
This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced February 18, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.
Where can I track S 620?
Track S 620 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

Make your voice heard on S 620

Find the representatives who decide this bill and tell them where you stand — for yourself, or mobilize your whole list in one click with One Click Politics advocacy software.

Find my representatives → Run a campaign

Stay ahead of S 620

Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

One Click Politics tracks every bill in Congress and all 50 states.

Track this bill →