Horse Racing

HISA/FTC Clarification Language in Federal Spending Bill


$1.7 million Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations bill introduced in Congress overnight includes language to put the Equestrian Integrity and Safety Authority on legal footing firmer following a U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling last month that found the law authorizing the agency unconstitutional.

The HISA clarification language is only a small part of the 4,155-page spending bill, aimed at preventing a government shutdown. It is not uncommon for amendments and actions to be attached to such large spending bills, with the Equestrian Integrity and Safety Act, which authorized the Authority, to initially pass when it is part of a multi-tiered legislative package passed in late 2020.

US Representatives Andy Barr (R-KY) and Paul Tonko (R-NY) and US Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) are in the the number of legislators behind allowing the passage of legislation.

Earlier this month, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, sent a letter to McConnell, along with eight other state attorneys general, urging him not to support HISA-related language in the year-end legislation. Several states or public organizations, mainly in the South, are involved in lawsuits against HISA.

The National Thoroughbred Horse Racing Association, which lobbies on behalf of the horse industry and has supported HISA, released a statement on December 20, with NTRA president and CEO Tom “We appreciate Congress’s continued support for the Equestrian Integrity and Safety Act,” said Rooney.

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Rooney is a former US congressman from Florida.

The language in the new bill goes to Section 1204e of the Act (15 USC 3053(e)), amending the Federal Trade Commission’s oversight of HISA.

“The Commission in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, may repeal, add to, and modify Agency rules enacted under this Act as the Commission deems necessary. or as appropriate to ensure equitable administration of the Agency, to comply with the Agency’s rules in accordance with the requirements of this Act and applicable rules approved by the Commission, or otherwise to do so purposes of this Act,” it states.

HISA, a private organization, was established by Congress to establish and enforce a nationally unified set of rules in Thoroughbred racing.

The Federal Trade Commission’s permission for the FTC to amend its rules appears to be a move against the basis of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision.

“A fundamental constitutional principle is that federal power can only be held by the federal government. Private entities can only do so if they are subordinate to an agency,” said the three-judge panel. the court judge wrote in a 35-page opinion. “But the Agency is not dependent on the FTC. The opposite is true. The Agency, not the FTC, has the final say over HISA programs.”

Other challenges are continuing to make their way through the courts, with a HISA-related ruling pending in the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on similar constitutional issues.

Due to these regulatory uncertainties, HISA’s Anti-Doping and Drug Control regulations will not go into effect as originally planned on January 1 after the FTC rejected HISA’s drug rules. . Its Track Safety program remains in effect.

The CEO of the National Horsemen’s Protection and Mercy Association Eric Hamelback and general counsel Peter Ecabert released the following statement about the pending legislation:

“By including in this spending bill the so-called ‘fix’ to HISA, congressional leaders are acknowledging that the law they added to the 2020 spending bill is unconstitutional, as we have already seen. I am very disappointed that, once again, the laws governing the horse racing industry were drafted in the dark without a public hearing and with virtually no comments. ​what industry contribution it solves to the funding disaster remains in the Deficit Act.It is clear from the issues raised in various lawsuits arguing HISA’s legal merits that ‘correction’ this one-sentence fix does not alleviate the obvious constitutional flaws that this law created.The constitutional defects still include a private non-federal entity empowered to levy taxes in violation of Article I. , the Tenth Amendment violates against the command of the powers of the states, Fou violates the Rth and Seventh Amendments for lack of due process and violation of the Act t Administrative Procedures.

“For all of the reasons we outlined above, the Act itself remains unconstitutional by giving the regulation of the entire industry to an unelected, unaccountable private corporation. This fight. It’s not over yet and the National HBPA will go to the Supreme Court if we have to, to protect the interests of cavalrymen across the country,” Hamelback and Ecabert said.

As is typical of bills being passed by Congress, changes are anticipated in the law, which could result in part of a major bill being amended or removed. The sprawling bill also funds medical and defense programs for veterans, adds additional aid to the war in Ukraine, and addresses federal agency funding.

The Senate is expected to pass the bill before it is likely to move to the US House of Representatives before the Christmas holidays.

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