The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a number of rules and regulations that would seek to improve oversight of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the national regulatory body that was created in 2020 to replace the sport’s state-by-state regulatory structure. Under the proposals, HISA would be required to provide two reports each year to the FTC outlining its financial condition for the prior six months, including budgeting and spending revisions. The same section of proposed rules would also require HISA to provide a five-year strategic plan to the FTC and periodically update the FTC on the authority’s progress in meeting the goals of the plan. Another section would require HISA to “take steps to prevent conflicts of interest, waste, fraud, embezzlement, and abuse, as well as ensure data security and privacy in its systems.” Finally, a proposed set of rules would recommend the adoption of best practices for the authority’s management. :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. In a release, the FTC said that the proposed rules would be published in the federal register “soon.” A 60-day public comment period will commence once the rules are posted. After the public comments are received, the FTC can revise the rules before voting to approve them. The proposals are the first to be recommended by the FTC in the 18 months that HISA has conducted regulatory operations in states under its jurisdiction. The FTC was designated as HISA’s oversight agency in the legislation that passed late in 2020 that created HISA. Over that time frame, HISA has been the sole entity to propose rules and regulations regarding its operations and the rules it would enforce. The FTC’s role in overseeing HISA is at the heart of two legal challenges that were brought by groups affiliated with horsemen and state racing commissions. In those challenges, the groups argued that the legislation creating HISA violated the Constitution’s non-delegation clause, which prohibits the government from granting its own powers to a private organization without certain guardrails and standards. The groups had argued that the FTC had little power to initiate the rule-making process, a contention disputed by attorneys for the commission and HISA. The U.S. Sixth Circuit upheld the constitutionality of the legislation last year, in a ruling issued just after the U.S. Congress amended the 2020 enabling legislation to grant the FTC more powers over HISA. However, the U.S. Fifth Circuit had ruled prior to that amendment that the act was unconstitutional, in part by citing the non-delegation doctrine. The Fifth Circuit heard oral arguments in a re-hearing of the case in October, and the court is expected to issue a new ruling in the next several months. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.