New World Screwworm Moves Beyond Containment Threshold

To protect the U.S. from a new threat posed by an old foe, the New World Screwworm (NWS), the U.S.-Mexico border was closed on May 11 to cattle, bison, and horses from Mexico. This pest was eradicated from the U.S. in 1966 and eliminated as far south as Panama by 2000. NWS began re-emerging above the biological barrier in Panama in 2022 and has continued moving north through Central America and Mexico.

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Louisiana Won’t Switch from an Elected Insurance Commissioner to an Appointed One

Legislation to convert Louisiana’s insurance commissioner from an elected office into an appointed one stalled on the state Senate floor Tuesday when the author of the proposal realized it was likely to fail.

Senate Bill 214 would have let the next governor, subject to Senate approval, appoint the state’s next insurance commissioner to a six-year term, with a limit of two terms.

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Avery Davidson
Louisiana Lawmakers Send Seafood Safety, Oversight Bill to Landry's Desk

A sweeping overhaul of Louisiana's seafood safety regulations is headed to the governor’s desk, following final legislative approval of a bill that transfers oversight responsibilities from the state’s tourism agency to the Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

House Bill 652, authored by Rep. Timothy Kerner, R-Lafitte, dissolves the current Seafood Safety Task Force under the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism and reestablishes it within the Agriculture Department.

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