A Republican and a Democrat are coming together to help states get more money in the fight against nutria.

John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) and Dianne Feinstein (D-California) are working to make an amendment to the Nutria Eradication and Control Act. This legislation helps states like Louisiana that have been hurt by the invasive species.

If this bill is passed, the states in the Nutria Eradication Program would have access to an extra $6 million a year. The measure also makes financial assistance proportional to the total area of a state that is affected by nutria.

“Louisiana’s wetlands protect our state from hurricanes and other serious storms. For years, nutria have devoured miles of our marshes, and some areas have no chance of growing back. This bill would help prevent these invasive swamp rats from further destroying Louisiana’s marshland,” said Kennedy.

The goal of the bill is to get rid of nutria.

“The explosive population growth of the nutria rodent could overwhelm our farms and wetlands if we don’t take aggressive action now. In California, there could be as many as 250,000 nutria within five years that could cause more than $1.2 billion a year in agriculture losses and eradication costs. Our bill will make all states eligible for federal funds to control this invasive species and stop its spread before we lose control of the situation,” said Feinstein.

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