Bill on medication to get hearing

A subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee has scheduled a hearing for Friday, June 22, to discuss proposed legislation that would put in place a federally sanctioned overseer of racing’s medication policies and ban the raceday use of Lasix, according to several officials with direct knowledge of the plan.

The Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection subcommittee will conduct the hearing, according to the officials. It will be the first hearing for the legislation under its current iteration, more than a year after it was formally introduced by Rep. Andy Barr, a Republican who represents part of Central Kentucky, and Rep. Paul Tonko, a Democrat who represents a district in upstate New York.

Neither Barr nor Tonko is a member of the subcommittee, which has 13 Republican members and nine Democratic members. Barr, who has been supportive of the racing industry in the past, is up for re-election this year, and he is facing a retired Marine pilot, Amy McGrath, a Democrat who has no ties to the racing industry.

The legislation has sharply divided the racing industry, in large part due to the raceday ban of Lasix, an anti-bleeding medication that is legal to use in every racing jurisdiction in North America, but also because it would largely sideline state racing commissions in their traditional roles of policy makers and enforcers. Proponents of the bill believe that it will provide more consistent regulation of racing by centralizing the policy and enforcement aspects of medication use.

A spokeswoman for the subcommittee confirmed that the hearing had been scheduled and provided a press release. The announcement did not include a witness list.

According to officials with knowledge of the hearing, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the subcommittee has not yet announced it, witnesses who have been invited to speak include Stuart Janney, an owner-breeder who is chairman of the Jockey Club; Craig Fravel, chief executive of Breeders’ Cup Ltd.; Kitty Block, president of the Humane Society of the United States; Eric Hamelback, executive director of the National Horseman’s Benevolent and Protective Association; Alan Foreman, chairman of the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association; and Ed Martin, president of the Association of Racing Commissioners International.

The Jockey Club, Breeders’ Cup, and HSUS support the legislation, along with a smattering of other groups and tracks that are mostly aligned with the Thoroughbred breeding community. The National HBPA, THA, and RCI are opposed to the legislation.