{"id":258705,"date":"2026-08-04T02:02:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T02:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/258705\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T02:02:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T02:02:15","slug":"fetterman-mccormick-bill-targets-spotted-lanternflies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/258705\/","title":{"rendered":"Fetterman, McCormick bill targets spotted lanternflies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fetterman, McCormick introduce bill targeting lanternflies<\/p>\n

\"Brian<\/a>\"Lori<\/a><\/p>\n

Pennsylvania senators are trying to stop the spread of the invasive spotted lanternfly. <\/p>\n

John Fetterman and Dave McCormick are joining up to introduce the Spotted Lanternfly Research and Development Act. <\/p>\n

The bipartisan bill would designate the invasive insect as a high-priority research initiative for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture by amending an existing 1990 agriculture law. <\/p>\n

If passed, it would give out federal grants to develop and distribute research-based tools and treatments that would target lanternflies. <\/p>\n

The legislation comes as the species continues to threaten the national agricultural economy, with particular impact on Pennsylvania. <\/p>\n

Fetterman’s office says the spotted lanternfly could cost the state $324 million annually if the population is not contained. <\/p>\n

In 2023, Fetterman originally partnered with then-Senator Bob Casey to introduce the bill. <\/p>\n

“I relish stomping on them, personally. They have a satisfying crunch when they go. Anecdotally, they seem like they really are starting to spread even more and more in Pennsylvania. A couple of years ago, I never would have seen one in western Pennsylvania and now I see them much more, just a few years later,” said Fetterman. <\/p>\n

About the bug<\/p>\n

The lanternfly was first discovered here in the United States just a quick drive away from the Susquehanna Valley. <\/p>\n

In 2014, it’s believed the eggs of the bug arrived on a stone shipment to Berks County. <\/p>\n

Since then, it’s been detected in every county in Pennsylvania and 18 other states, going as far west as Iowa. <\/p>\n

According to Penn State Extension of the College of Agricultural Studies, the life cycle of a spotted lanternfly begins between October and June when the eggs are laid. <\/p>\n

They begin to hatch as early as May. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fetterman, McCormick introduce bill targeting lanternflies Pennsylvania senators are trying to stop the spread of the invasive spotted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258706,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[109822,109819,349,42984,7102,3145,13483,109818,21646,4283,109816,109820,51894,28,30,29,14026,106506,109817,109821,2483,1419],"class_list":["post-258705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-1990-agriculture-law","tag-agricultural-economy","tag-berks-county","tag-bipartisan-bill","tag-bob-casey","tag-dave-mccormick","tag-federal-grants","tag-invasive-insect","tag-iowa","tag-john-fetterman","tag-lanternfly-bill","tag-national-institute-of-food-and-agriculture","tag-penn-state-extension","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-pennsylvania-senators","tag-spotted-lanternfly","tag-spotted-lanternfly-research","tag-state-damage","tag-susquehanna-valley","tag-western-pennsylvania"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}