HISA, horse racing bill, passed as part of omnibus legislation

The U.S. Senate on Monday night approved an omnibus legislative package that included a bill that will establish a national regulatory body for racing beginning in the summer of 2022.

The passage of the bill represents the culmination of 10 years of effort by its supporters, a cast of characters that has broadened over the past two years to include most major constituencies in the Thoroughbred industry. Under the bill, a non-profit, private company called the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority will approve national rules on medication policies and drug testing, to be enforced by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, another private, non-profit company.

The bi-partisan bill, known as the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, has already passed in the House of Representatives, and the legislation is expected to be signed by the White House or, alternately, survive a veto attempt.

Supporters of the bill contend that the new regulatory body will be far more successful in combating illegal drug use and regulating therapeutic medications than the current system, which relies on individual state racing commissions to devise and enforce their own rules. The regulatory body will also devise uniform rules for safe practices during racing and training, and is expected to also issue rules regarding the use of the whip.

Iterations of the bill have been introduced over the past six years but had never advanced to a vote at any level of the federal government. That changed earlier this year when Churchill Downs signed on to the latest version of the legislation, bringing aboard the powerful Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Supporters of the bill have already named a seven-member nominating committee to select the authority’s board of directors. The nominating committee will be tasked with selecting five “independent” members of the board “from outside the equine industry,” along with four other members who represent various racing constituencies.

The legislation sets July 1, 2022, as the date when the authority will begin operations. Prior to that date, the authority will face a significant number of critical tasks, including devising palatable funding formulas for each racing state and coming to consensus on rules governing medication use and drug-testing enforcement. Some of those issues, such as the raceday use of the anti-bleeding medication furosemide, have failed to be settled within the industry for decades.