Federal legislation that would abolish the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and seek to replace it with a national regulatory framework tied together by a state compact was reintroduced to Congress on Thursday.
The bill, which went nowhere when it was last introduced in 2023, was devised by horsemen’s groups who remain dissatisfied with HISA, the non-profit company that over the past three years has been enforcing safety and medication rules. The legislation’s major backers include the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, which has filed or joined multiple lawsuits seeking to invalidate HISA, and the United States Trotting Association, which refused to sign on to the legislation passed in 2020 creating HISA.
While the 2023 bill was introduced by a single legislator, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA), the bill filed Thursday is sponsored by Higgins, Rep. Don Davis (D-NC), and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark). Louisiana is not currently under the jurisdiction of HISA due to an injunction, and members of the Arkansas HBPA have filed a lawsuit against HISA. There are no horse racing tracks in North Carolina.
The bill’s chances for passage would appear long while two of HISA’s major supporters, Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. Andy Barr, both Republicans of Kentucky, remain in Congress. McConnell has announced that he will not run for reelection in 2026, and Barr has announced that he will run for McConnell’s seat, in a solidly red state.
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HISA is also still solidly supported by many of the deep-pocketed racing constituencies that backed the initial legislation, such as commercial breeders, The Jockey Club, and Breeders’ Cup. However, costs associated with funding HISA’s programs have begun to erode support from many racetracks, including Churchill Downs Inc., whose late backing of the 2020 legislation moved McConnell to get behind the bill.
The constitutionality of HISA remains in limbo due to two contradictory circuit court decisions over the past two years. The Supreme Court is expected to take up the issues underlying the rulings late in 2025 or in 2026.
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.
Prior to the creation of HISA, the racing industry consistently explored the possibility of creating an interstate compact to align the rules in most U.S. racing states, without any success.
Under the bill, state racing commissions would have two years to decide whether to join the compact. The bill states that the costs of the RHSO would be borne by the state racing commissions, and a release from the organizations supporting the legislation contended that the costs would “dramatically reduce the fees placed on horsemen.”
Under HISA, most racing commissions have taken advantage of an option to pass on the costs of funding to racetracks, which have typically split the bill for the funding with horsemen using purse funds.
Any state that does not participate in the compact would be unable to authorize out-of-state simulcasting for tracks within its jurisdiction, according to its supporters. HISA uses the same enforcement power, which has led racetracks in several states, including Texas, Nebraska, and Wyoming, to stop sending their signals out-of-state.
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