Sen. Ted Cruz, Rep. Ronny Jackson Push Bill to Help Ranchers Devastated by Texas Wildfires

The Republican lawmakers introduced legislation to expand a federal aid program that assists ranchers whose pregnant livestock are killed in disasters.

Smoke billows over a road during the Smokehouse Creek Fire in the Texas panhandle on Feb. 27, 2024. Texas A&M Forest Service via Getty Images

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) are pushing legislation to deliver additional financial help to ranchers who lost excessive numbers of unborn livestock in a disaster. The bill could assist those in the Texas Panhandle who are working to recover from wildfires that killed at least 15,000 head of cattle, including pregnant cows, earlier this year.

The bill, dubbed the Livestock Indemnity Program Enhancement Act of 2024, would establish additional payments for excessive deaths of unborn livestock under the current indemnity program in the 2018 Farm Bill (pdf).