Commissioners in Kentucky and Pennsylvania held special meetings this week to make decisions on whether to enter into agreements with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority for its Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) program, which is slated to begin March 27. The program will include national, uniform drug regulations and will use standardized testing across states. It will be administered by the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU), using many of the existing laboratories that had previously been contracted by states to do post-race, pre-race, and out-of-competition testing.
Kentucky's commission voted unanimously to enter into an agreement with the organization with no discussion. The commission did include a caveat to the agreement that it would not collect fees from Thoroughbred racetracks and that agreement could be terminated if all or part of the federal bill creating the Authority was found unconstitutional by a court with no appeals remaining.
Pennsylvania's commission discussed the matter in an hour-long meeting which included input and questions from industry stakeholders. Their agenda broke the question of an agreement with the Authority into three parts — approval of the 2023 expenditure for operating costs related to national safety regulations, approval of an agreement with the Authority/HIWU for the ADMC program, and an agreement as to the routing of laboratory services through the Authority/HIWU.
According to a presentation from Thoroughbred Bureau director Tom Chuckas, Pennsylvania was assessed a total of roughly $6 million for all components of the national regulatory program for 2023. The commission believes that it will receive credits of roughly $4.8 million for utilizing existing staff and facilities like the test barns and sample collectors, etc. to administer Authority/HIWU rules, which leaves a bill of $1.2 million, roughly the amount of the costs of the safety program. The commission is paying those expenses from tax revenue, and is not passing those costs on to the racetracks or the horsemen. Chuckas said the costs for the safety portion of the program for the remainder of 2023 are similar to what they were in 2022.
The agreements before the commission only run through the end of 2023, thus allowing for renegotiation later if the first nine months of cooperation do not go well, according to Chuckas.
Todd Mostoller, executive director of the Pennsylvania Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, expressed numerous concerns over the legal future of HISA, as well as hesitation that if the commission allocates money to the expenses of the programs, they won't have the funds to administer state regulations if HISA is found unconstitutional down the road.
Jeff Matty, executive director of the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, expressed trust in the commission to act in the best interest of Pennsylvania racing stakeholders.
The PHBPA represents horsemen at Penn National and Presque Isle Downs while the PTHA represents horsemen at Parx Racing.
Russell Williams, president of the U.S. Trotting Association, cautioned the commission against approving agreements with the Authority or HIWU because he believes another federal alternative may be coming soon. The USTA and Hanover Shoe Farm, a Standardbred operation led by Williams, were parties to a lawsuit alleging the federal law creating HISA is unconstitutional.
“There is legislation about to be introduced in Congress,” Williams said. “Now, I know better than to make specific predictions, however the primary sponsor of this legislation has been talking with us. We provided him with a draft. The draft came from the national racetrack vets, from the HBPA, from the USTA, and it's already been through legislative services.
“This bill is a state-administered program so the states would form an interstate compact that would use state authority and state experience, state funding, and save millions of dollars over the HISA structure,” Williams said.
The Pennsylvania commission unanimously approved the $1.2 million cost of the safety program for 2023, noting that the commission had previously cooperated with the Authority when national safety rules went into effect in July and while the process had not been flawless, all parties were happy to continue cooperation.
The body approved an agreement for the anti-doping medication program with one vote against, from commissioner Darryl Breniser, and one abstention from Dr. John Egloff. It also approved the lab services agreement, with a vote against from Breniser and an abstention from Dr. Corinne Sweeney.
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