Improving Pest and Disease Preparedness for Specialty Crops Act

This bill aims to strengthen the nation's ability to combat plant pests and diseases, particularly those impacting specialty crops, by amending the Plant Protection Act. It introduces new directives and significantly increases financial resources dedicated to these critical agricultural protection efforts. A key provision requires the Secretary to prioritize cooperative agreements for plant pest and disease management activities in high-risk States . Furthermore, the bill substantially boosts authorized annual funding for these programs, increasing the allocation to $150,000,000 for fiscal year 2027 and subsequent fiscal years. It also raises a specific emergency funding amount within the Act from $5,000,000 to $12,000,000 , enhancing the capacity for rapid response to outbreaks affecting specialty crops.