According to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the belated controversy in Washington DC this week over federal law being reviewed before divided Congress sits in January has prompted several initiatives valuable to the purebred industry is discarded.
Congress did not include common tax extenders that benefit businesses, including a three-year depreciation schedule for racehorses under 2 years of age, which expires at the end of 2021. The depreciation is still due and 100% bonus depreciation will be gradually reduced in 2023 to 80%. The NTRA said it plans to work with the new Congress in the first quarter of next year to resolve the issue.
Meaningful immigration reform was also not included in the year-end aggregate spending package that included language clarifications for the Horse Racing and Integrity and Safety Act. NTRA supported Senator Michael Bennet’s Safe and Affordable Food Act to be included in the spending package. The inclusion of this bill would have opened up the labor market for the entire horse industry.
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The H-2B limitation is one of the equine industry’s biggest hurdles in finding a reliable source of labor to fill roles such as support positions. By switching to the H-2A program, which has no annual cap, it will be easier to fill these key positions. NTRA will continue to lobby before Congress to pass permanent solutions to temporary worker problems in the industry.
