House bill would repeal HISA, create new state compact for regulation
Rep. Clay Higgins, a Republican from Louisiana, has introduced a bill to the House of Representatives that would repeal the legislation creating the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and create a state compact for national regulation of racing in its stead.
The bill, which is being supported by the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and its affiliates, has little chance of passage during a legislative session in which the government is facing a shutdown over spending and policy disputes and at a time when HISA retains support from major legislative leaders, including Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky.
Still, the bill underlines the dissatisfaction of the National HBPA and its affiliates, along with several other groups, over the advent of HISA, which replaced racing’s state-by-state regulatory structure. The National HBPA, which has filed and supported multiple lawsuits seeking a ruling invalidating HISA, has complained that HISA has failed to adequately involve horsemen in its policy-making processes and that the cost of its programs cannot be borne by the industry, among other complaints.
The bill would establish the Racehorse Health and Safety Organization (RHSO), with a board appointed by state racing commissions, using an “interstate compact.” Under interstate compacts, state agencies can band together to pass common rules. While the RHSO would devise and approve the rules, state racing commissions would continue to enforce the regulations, supporters said.
“HISA has proven to be flawed in implementation time and time again, and it’s time to pass legislation grounded in veterinary science,” said Doug Daniels, a veterinarian who is the current president of the National HBPA. “The Racehorse Health and Safety Act is just that.”
The racing industry explored the idea of creating an interstate compact more than a decade ago, but those efforts failed to gain significant traction in the industry.
Under the bill, the RHSO would have the authority to create rules impacting Thoroughbreds, Standardbreds, and Quarter Horses. HISA’s enabling legislation restricted its jurisdictions to Thoroughbred races after backers of the concept could not get buy-in from other breeds.
Lisa Lazarus, the chief executive officer of HISA, said in a statement released in response to the introduction of the bill that HISA is “the law of the land” while defending the authority’s outreach efforts with horsemen, which included the creation of a Horseman’s Advisory Group last year.
“The racing industry definitively proved over decades that voluntary compacts and state-by-state patchwork regulation do not work,” Lazarus said. “HISA welcomes all horsemen to the table to work with us. By engaging in our rule-making process and with our Horseman’s Advisory Group, industry stakeholders have numerous avenues to provide feedback and continue to improve HISA’s efficacy.”
One of the National HBPA’s legal challenges to HISA resulted in a ruling from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that held HISA’s enabling legislation to be unconstitutional. Following that ruling, the U.S. Sixth Circuit upheld HISA’s constitutionality after considering nearly identical arguments.
After the Fifth Circuit sent its ruling back to a lower court for re-consideration, that court also upheld HISA’s constitutionality, citing an amendment attached to HISA’s enabling legislation at the end of the 2022. The Fifth Circuit is now expected to rule again on the matter sometime later this year, and if the court again rules that HISA is unconstitutional, many legal experts expect the issue to be petitioned to the Supreme Court.
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