Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program Enhancement Act
Summary
HB388, titled the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program Enhancement Act, directs the Secretary of Agriculture to commission a review of the federal Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program within one year of enactment. The review must be conducted by a covered institution, defined as either a land-grant university or a non-land-grant college of agriculture, and must assess the program’s effectiveness in preventing and reducing tick-borne illnesses in cattle, the benefits and compliance burdens for cattle producers, the treatment protocols used under the program, and the federal and state funding supporting the program and related research projects.
After the review is completed, the Secretary must submit a report to the House and Senate agriculture committees within one year, including the review findings and recommendations for improving the program, including ways to reduce compliance burdens on cattle producers. The bill does not itself change the underlying eradication program’s operational rules, but it creates a formal oversight and reporting requirement intended to inform future policy decisions about the program.
Impact
The bill would not directly amend existing livestock health statutes or create new enforcement authority; instead, it adds a federal review-and-report mandate for the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program administered by USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in coordination with the Texas Animal Health Commission. Its practical effect would be to require USDA to evaluate program performance, funding, and producer impacts, and to provide Congress with recommendations that could shape future appropriations, administrative changes, or statutory revisions affecting cattle health, quarantine/treatment protocols, and producer compliance obligations.
Sentiment
The available context suggests a generally supportive and oversight-oriented posture toward the bill. It was introduced by Representatives Delacruz, Crockett, and Ellzey and referred to the House Agriculture Committee and then to the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry, indicating it is being handled as a specialized agricultural policy measure rather than a controversial partisan proposal. No committee transcript or recorded votes were provided, so there is no evidence of formal opposition in the available record.
Contention
The main policy tension in the bill is between disease-control objectives and the regulatory burden on cattle producers. The required review specifically asks for an assessment of the program’s benefits and the burden of compliance, and it directs recommendations for reducing that burden, suggesting that producers may view current protocols as costly or cumbersome. Another likely point of interest is how federal and state funds are allocated and whether the program’s treatment protocols are effective enough to justify their cost, but no explicit objections or competing viewpoints appear in the provided materials.
Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program Enhancement Act of 2025This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to enter into a contract to evaluate the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program.Under the program, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service works in coordination with the Texas Animal Health Commission to combat the spread of cattle fever ticks, which can spread a serious cattle disease called bovine babesiosis or cattle fever.Specifically, USDA must enter into a contract to review and report on the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program with a (1) land-grant college or university, or (2) non-land-grant college of agriculture.The review must include an evaluation of the program's (1) effectiveness with respect to preventing and reducing the spread of cattle fever ticks; and (2) benefits, and the burdens of compliance, to cattle producers.The review must also evaluate the treatment protocols developed and implemented under the program.Further, the review must evaluate the federal and state funds allocated to support the program for the most recent fiscal year.