The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposed a rule to amend the Horse Protection Act (HPA) on July 26, 2016. Due to the devastating nature of the rule to the citizens and economies of Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia, representatives of those states sent a request to the USDA seeking a 60 day extension to the comment period. The current comment period ends on September 26, 2016. If the extension were granted by the USDA, the comment period would go through November 26, 2016. The letter also stated as a reason for the request, “APHIS had little, if any, contact, with members of the industry in an effort to develop the proposed rules before their publication.”
The members signing the letter included Scott DesJarlais, Marsha Blackburn, Diane Black, John Duncan, Stephen Fincher, Phil Roe and Chuck Fleishmann from Tennessee. Andy Barr and House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers signed on from Kentucky and Bob Goodlatte did so from Virginia.