Horse racing groups introduce competing safety legislation they hope will replace HISA
WASHINGTON — New legislation introduced in Congress on Tuesday would dismantle the year-old national authority in charge of regulating safety and medication in horse racing and replace it with an organization backers say would allow for the safe treatment of horses and address concerns about doping.
The Racehorse Health and Safety Act, proposed by the North American Association of Racetrack Veterinarians and several horsemen’s associations, would include a national umbrella of rules for states to follow but give individual racing commissions more authority to enforce them. The bill was introduced by Louisiana Republican Rep. Clay Higgins.
“While the federal government may have had good intentions in passing (the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act), in practice it ended up obstructing best practices in the horse business,”
Higgins said. “I will not sit by and allow horses to be harmed while government crushes the families that have built their lives around the horse racing industry.”
The plan would essentially move the oversight of the sport back to states, creating a system with a board chosen by racing commissioners — closer to what existed before the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority was established. Critics say HISA goes too far with arbitrary medication rules and creating a Racehorse Health and Safety Organization would be a better way of regulating an industry that in recent years has largely acknowledged the need for reform.
HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus in a phone interview with The Associated Press said it was an unfortunate development for the industry as horse racing tries to survive.
“Everyone knows that HISA is fully operational now: It’s here to stay,” Lazarus said. “At a time when everyone in the industry outside of the (National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association) is sort of opening themselves up to anything possible to work towards reducing equine injuries, it’s sad and disappointing to see them just essentially try to throw grenades and put up roadblocks when we should really be coming together as an industry.”
Tom Rooney, president and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, in a statement sent to the AP called it a “desperate attempt by detractors to repeal HISA, a law that is working to make the sport of thoroughbred racing safer and more transparent.” He added the NTRA will continue to support HISA.
Eric Hamelback, CEO of the NHBPA, said the new law “takes into account horsemen’s input (and) veterinary science (and) allows for horses to be given proper care in the best interest of equine health and welfare.”