Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh on Monday took a swipe at the proposed law by Assembly Member Bill Maze, R-Visalia, to prohibit anyone from operating a motor vehicle while holding a live animal.

"Talk about the land of fruits and nuts!" Limbaugh said, according to a transcript of the nationally syndicated show, which airs on KMJ. He also said: "This is an example of how our government -- state and local -- are out of control."

Reading from an AP story, Limbaugh laid the groundwork: "Modesto police are blaming a scratching cat for an accident that toppled a power pole and shut down a street for nearly an hour. A police sergeant said Friday that a woman was driving with a cat in her lap. The animal scratched her, and she drove into the pole. The woman suffered minor injuries and was taken to a hospital. The cat was taken to a vet to treat an injured eye. On Wednesday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee approved a bill by Assemblyman Bill Maze that would make it illegal to drive with a pet in your arms or in your lap."

Maze, a conservative Republicans, asked a staffer to respond to the Bee's request for a comment on Limbaugh singling out his bill.

The incident with the cat provides "some good evidence that driving with an animal in one's lap is just plain dangerous," the staffer wrote in an e-mail.

Furthermore, Maze's bill was introduced on Feb. 20, not two days after the cat incident as Limbaugh said on his radio show, the staffer noted.

The bill, AB 2233, is expected to be on the floor of the Assembly on Thursday.