Sponsors (21)
The bill increases public outreach and coordination to help farmers, residents, and local governments identify and control spotted lanternflies—reducing crop and local impacts—while imposing modest taxpayer costs and risking unintended harm to beneficial insects if the public uses improper control methods.
Farmers and agricultural workers will receive better information about spotted lanternflies, helping protect crops and reduce agricultural losses.
Local governments and extension services will get outreach tools and coordination support from the Secretary, improving local control efforts against the pest.
Residents in affected rural areas will learn to identify the spotted lanternfly and take immediate action, which can slow its spread and reduce local impacts.
Taxpayers may bear additional costs for a national media campaign (TV, radio, billboards) without clear budget offsets.
Encouraging the public to kill insects could lead untrained individuals to mistakenly kill non-target, beneficial insects or use improper methods, harming local ecosystems.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires USDA to run a national awareness campaign telling the public that spotted lanternflies threaten agriculture and to kill any they find.
Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to run a national public-awareness campaign about the invasive spotted lanternfly. The campaign must place public service announcements on TV, radio, and billboards in high-incidence areas telling people that spotted lanternflies threaten local agriculture and encouraging individuals to kill any they find; the Secretary may also use other outreach tools as appropriate.
Official title: To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out an awareness campaign with respect to spotted lanternflies.
Introduced September 26, 2025 by Eugene Simon Vindman · Last progress September 26, 2025