U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is continuing her push to pull a rabbit out of a hat for Missouri small business owners facing unnecessary federal regulations by targeting a requirement that animal handlers--including magicians with a small number of rabbits--must have a federal government license and a government-approved plan to do so.
"I write to you today to bring to your attention a classic example of unnecessary federal overreach," McCaskill wrote. " the idea that any magician who keeps a limited number of rabbits or other common animals at home needs federal government license to do so flies in the face of common sense and can serve only to alienate well-meaning citizens from the many important roles and functions of the federal government. Therefore I urge you to finalize a rule to clearly exempt these operations that have no business being regulated by the USDA."
McCaskill is asking Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to create a "commonsense" exemption to this rule, highlighting the absurdity of a government requirement that a magician must have a license and federally-approved emergency plan for a rabbit that is part of a magic show. McCaskill urged the same action last year from former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
McCaskill's letter highlights that the 2014 Farm Bill--which she helped pass into law after inaction from U.S. House Republicans--"[recognizes] the ridiculousness of the situation" by providing an exemption for these magicians which would no longer require them to develop and submit a comprehensive disaster plan to cover the care of a rabbit under the Animal Welfare Act. After a more than two-year delay, the Agriculture Department has yet to finalize this exemption.
McCaskill is a longtime advocate for eliminating waste and duplication in government--working to eliminate a redundant pesticide approvals process for Missouri's farmers and ranchers, and passing provisions of the Federal Permitting Improvement Act, along with Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, that streamlines and speeds up the federal permitting process for the largest and most complex projects, which were laden with an uncoordinated federal review process.