In the wake of “HISA fix” language which was signed into law after inclusion in the U.S. government's year-end spending bill, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and the Federal Trade Commission submitted four filings (two with “emergency status”) on Tuesday in an effort to vacate a pair of court opinions about the constitutionality of HISA. According to the Thoroughbred Daily News, HISA and the FTC are seeking rehearings in each of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals cases.
Also on Tuesday, the FTC issued an order which ratified its previous orders regarding rules issued by the Authority in order to to avoid any doubt about the force and effect of the horseracing rules that the Commission previously approved, including the Authority's rules on racetrack safety, enforcement, assessment methodology, and registration.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling on Nov. 18 and found the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act – the law creating the Authority – unconstitutional on the grounds that it delegated rule-making authority to a non-governmental agency. The decision effectively delayed implementation of the Authority's Anti-Doping and Medication Control program, that was scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, 2023, since the FTC did not approve the medication regulations submitted by the Authority (citing legal uncertainty).
However, since the amendment included in the spending bill strengthens the FTC's rule making and oversight role of HISA, it provides a fix for “the alleged constitutional defect.”
The filing summarizes: “Accordingly, the [Fifth Circuit] panel opinion–predicated on a prior version of HISA that no longer exists and that Congress purposefully replaced–cannot stand.”
Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.
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