On Capitol Hill this past week following the release of a new report that more than 10,000 Californians died from overdoses between 2023 and 2024, Representative Josh Harder (CA-09) voted to pass a bipartisan bill through the U.S. House to close a deadly loophole in fentanyl regulation that allows traffickers to evade prosecution.
Fentanyl, which alone was responsible for nearly 75,000 deaths in the U.S. in 2023, is a controlled substance and carries severe penalties for its manufacture and use. However, drug traffickers are able to evade these regulations by slightly altering the drug’s chemical compound. The Halt All Lethal Trafficking of (HALT) Fentanyl Act closes this loophole by classifying fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs, giving law enforcement the tools it needs to crack down on this crisis.
“Drug traffickers are killing our loved ones and getting away with it because of a stupid legal loophole. It’s past time that we gave law enforcement the tools they need to put these criminals behind bars for good,” the Central Valley congressman said. “This bipartisan bill strengthens local law enforcement, cracks down on drug traffickers, and delivers on our responsibility to keep our families safe.”
Harder has worked across the aisle to support law enforcement efforts in the fight against the drug epidemic, including championing legislation to invest in high intensity drug trafficking prevention and disrupting illegal drug manufacturing. On Feb. 4, Harder met with more than 200 narcotics officers representing state associations across the country, including in California, as part of the National Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition’s (NNOAC) 2025 Delegate Conference.
The annual conference — which included representatives from the Central Valley California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) organization — focused on new ways to tackle the drug trafficking epidemic and passing solutions that support local law enforcement and crack down on fentanyl in local communities.
Harder, who has championed legislation to invest in high intensity drug trafficking prevention and disrupt illegal drug manufacturing, was the only Democrat to speak at this conference. The NNOAC was first founded in 1994 and represents more than 40 state narcotic officers’ associations in the U.S.
Also, the U.S. House of Representatives on Feb. 5 passed Harder’s bipartisan bill to continue funding eradication efforts of nutria – the giant swamp rats with an exploding population that cause massive damage to crops, levees, and the Delta. The overwhelmingly bipartisan passage of the Nutria Eradication and Control Reauthorization Act comes as current funding is set to expire this year, and on the heels of the most captures in a single year in 2024.
“These 40-pound swamp rats are infesting our communities and waterways. We have to keep this fight up - or else their population can balloon out of control incredibly quickly,” said Harder. “I’ve worked with Republicans and President Trump to get this invasion under control, and I’m proud that today we took a critical step towards driving these pests out of the Valley for good.”
Nutria are able to eat 25 percent of their body weight every day and reproduce 200 offspring every year, which has led to an infestation that has expanded across the Valley. In 2023, 78 percent of nutria found were in newly infested areas including the northwestern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and throughout the San Joaquin River corridor in Fresno County.
Last year, more than 1,300 nutria were captured in California, which is the most in a single year, and more than the last two years combined. Funding for these eradication efforts is critical, Harder said, to ensure that this nutria infestation does not continue to spread.
