Padilla, Schiff Secure $4 Million for Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter Response Activities
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff (both D-Calif.) announced that they secured $4 million in emergency federal funding to address the growing threat posed by the invasive glassy-winged sharpshooter (GWSS) in California. In June, Padilla and Schiff, along with U.S. Representatives Mike Thompson (D-Calif.-04) and David Valadao (D-Calif.-22), requested this emergency funding to support efforts to contain and eradicate the pest, which spreads Pierce’s Disease (PD) and threatens many critical agricultural industries in California, including wine grapes and table grapes.
“With the growing threat of invasive pests like the glassy-winged sharpshooter, we are working to ensure California has access to federal resources to quickly respond and protect our crops,” said Senator Alex Padilla. “Our state’s growers have already felt the impact of these pests. I’m proud to have quickly secured this federal funding with my colleagues to ensure California’s agriculture and wine industries can continue to thrive.”
“California’s wine industry provides more than a million jobs and is crucial to our national economy,” said Senator Schiff. “This USDA funding is essential to aid grape growers during this time of need, and I’ll keep fighting for more resources to protect California’s agricultural industries.”
This funding will allow the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to expand trace-forward investigations, increase inspections, destroy infested materials, and strengthen trapping and visual surveys at high-risk locations associated with recent GWSS-infested plant shipments. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) works with the CDFA and county agricultural commissioners through a long-standing cooperative program to manage and contain GWSS in California.
As a proud advocate of California agriculture, Padilla has fought to provide resources and funding for our state’s growers, and consistently defended measures aimed at protecting California from invasive pests. This month, Padilla and Schiff introduced the Ensuring Disaster Recovery and Resilience for Specialty Crops Act, which would establish a permanent relief program to provide support for farmers who lost specialty crops due to natural disasters, economic crises, and market disruptions.
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