NTRA: Tax breaks for owners, Thoroughbred aftercare top lobbying priorities for 2023

TUCSON, Ariz. – The National Thoroughbred Racing Association during the next congressional session will be lobbying to protect existing tax breaks for horse owners and to secure funding for organizations that provide aftercare for retired horses, the president of the NTRA said at the Global Symposium on Racing on Wednesday morning.

Tom Rooney, a former congressman who was installed as the NTRA’s president at the start of this year, said during his opening address that existing tax breaks providing for three-year depreciation for horses and 100 percent bonus depreciation are set to expire soon, and that the NTRA will make protecting the tax breaks its “top priority.” The specific tax proposals were contained in the Republican-shepherded tax bill passed in 2017.

Rooney also said the NTRA will begin to lobby next year for funding sources for aftercare organizations, but he said in an interview following his presentation that the specifics of the legislation have yet to be worked out. He mentioned earmarks to specific organizations as a possibility, but also said the NTRA will be exploring a number of options that would send federal tax dollars to the industry for help in its aftercare efforts, which can range from post-racing career management to participation in therapy programs and rehabilitation.

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“We should take care of these animals from the time when they are born to when they die,” Rooney said, during his presentation. He said that providing support for aftercare is “hopefully not a partisan issue.”

While Rooney did not say in his remarks that the NTRA would take a direct role in lobbying for changes to the legislation that formed the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, he said the racing industry should unite behind an effort to replace racing’s existing state-by-state regulatory structure with a national administration, HISA’s goal.

“I don’t think anybody can dispute that,” Rooney said. “With uniform standards of fairness across the country, thoroughbred racing and betting will be more competitive and successful.”

He also hinted at the NTRA’s continued backing for HISA by saying: “We can no longer talk about the past and what was done 20 or 30 years ago. It’s time to look forward to the future.”

The NTRA board, which is composed of representatives from most of racing’s major constituencies, had endorsed the legislation creating HISA prior to the bill being passed in 2020, despite clusters of opposition within the industry, particularly among some horsemen’s groups and racing commissions.

In November, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit of Appeals ruled that HISA’s enabling legislation was unconstitutional, reversing a lower court’s decision in a lawsuit brought by the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. The ruling has generated discussion within HISA of seeking a “technical change” in the legislation to address the issues raised by the opinion. Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, was weighing the idea. The report did not source a specific individual.

In the post-presentation interview, Rooney said that lobbying on that technical change was not being handled by the NTRA, but rather “HISA’s people.”

Congress is in lame-duck session, and the next session will feature a split Congress, with Republicans in control of the House and Democrats in control of the Senate. Rooney warned that getting support for legislation beginning next year will be more difficult.

“The fact is, a divided congress will make passing legislation a lot more difficult,” Rooney said. “Anything that does get done will need to be done on a bipartisan basis. … It will require work and concessions on both sides of the aisle.”

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