The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority has released its 2024 overall budget, as well as a breakdown of assessments by state and by racetrack, and credits available to states to help offset their assessed costs.
The 2024 budget is larger than it was in 2023, but the organization didn't begin requiring drug testing services via the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit until six months into the year, just ahead of the 2023 Belmont Stakes. Total expenses for 2024 are projected to be $80,967,416, with $78,586,798 being passed on to states or racetracks. HISA expects that the amount of credits used by the industry will be $18,740,635, which means a remaining $59,846,163 would actually be passed on to the states and/or racetracks.
Last year, the total expenses came to $66,490,436.
The largest portion of the 2024 budget is the anti-doping and medication control program, which is expected to cost $62,748,741, with just over $21 million of that going towards the expense of lab testing and another $38 million going towards the expenses of HIWU's operation, which includes sample collection. That number could be lower if states use offered credits in exchange for using their own personnel to do the sample collection.
The 2024 budget includes two line items for legal expenses — $1.37 million in general expenses and another $2.22 million that is allocated towards defending lawsuits. Questions around HISA's constitutionality and authority have it in federal civil court in multiple jurisdictions.
At the state level, 2024 assessments went up for most states, but so did the amount of credits that were offered to most states. Still, the majority of states will see budget increases even with the additional credits. The biggest changes are on tap for Pennsylvania, which will see a 73% higher bill for 2024 and Iowa, which saw a 47% increase. Pennsylvania's total assessment went up roughly $1 million year to year but its available credits increased only $100,000. Iowa saw a slight decrease in available credit and an increase in assessment.
Two states – Oklahoma and Minnesota – could actually end up paying less in 2024 if they take advantage of all available credits. Oklahoma could save $186,652 and Minnesota could pay $61,011 less.
Only one state – New York – saw the amount of available credits decrease in 2024 compared to last year.
States are offered credits if they choose to allow existing personnel to do sample collection on behalf of HIWU, which saves HIWU the expense of hiring its own personnel to do so. Two states – California and Pennsylvania – are also offered lab credits, because they have existing contracts with labs at state universities that are also approved for HIWU drug testing.
If a state racing commission chooses not to allow this use of existing collections personnel, the credit is not applied to the assessment made to the state. State racing commissions that do not accept or are not legally permitted to pay the HISA assessment will pass those costs on to racetracks.
The portion of the overall HISA budget that is to be paid by a state (or, when applicable, racetrack) is calculated based on a formula that takes into account both purses and number of races at each racetrack in the previous year, with the idea being that states with a high volume of cheap races shouldn't get saddled with a disproportionate amount of the bill while sparing states that have bigger purses at shorter, high-profile meets. Breeders' Cup races are not included in the calculation.
This formula was challenged in one of the federal civil cases against HISA and adjusted slightly, to the disadvantage of states running a higher volume of cheaper races.
If the expense were to be passed along to racetracks with no credits given, Kentucky Downs would have the highest per-start fee in the country to offset HISA expenses at $1,095.65. Saratoga's summer meet would follow at $778.99. Kentucky's commission opted to apply for credits offered by HISA in 2023 but declined to collect fees from the racetracks to pay the remaining expense. New York's commission did not enter into an agreement allowing it to get credits for 2023 or opt to pay the bill, so last summer, NYRA and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association implemented per-start fees at its racetracks.
States that don't hold “covered” horse races (meaning those which do not export their signal for interstate wagering) were not included in the cost allocation. This includes Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, and Wyoming. Louisiana and West Virginia both have assessments listed in the document even though they have a temporary restraining order preventing HISA regulations or expenses from going into effect there.
Documents detailing assessments, the proposed 2024 budget, and the 2022 IRS Form 990 can be found on the HISA website here.
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