association of racing commissioners international | Horse Racing Free Tips

ARCI: Financial Impact, Implementation Details Should Be Known Before Passage Of HISA Bill

Expressing concerns about undefined cost mandates and implementation issues associated with S.4547, the proposed Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020, the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) believes Legislators should require more information about how the legislation will impact individual States before moving forward with the proposal.

“The RCI Board believes there are some very good things in this bill,” said Ed Martin, President of the ARCI. “But there is a huge financial unknown concerning the cost, especially how it will impact smaller and mid-sized racing entities and exactly how this is to be implemented.”

Martin said the ARCI is committed to a smooth transition once the proposal is enacted into law, noting that the legislation addresses issues long advocated by the association, specifically uniform rules and testing. “This legislation accomplishes that and also solves the funding issue that has been an annual headache for every racing commission,” he said.

The ARCI Board met this week and discussed the proposal at length. “There are many questions about how this will work and a general concern about how smaller and midsized racing venues will survive if required to pay additional regulatory expenses,” he said. A staff analysis of the legislation noted at least 35 racing venues in 19 US States that should be monitored to assess the extent to which they will be able to withstand additional financial mandates imposed by the legislation.

The RCI Board felt that there were too many unanswered questions to embrace the legislation at this time although directors from Kentucky spoke in favor, West Virginia against, and some other jurisdictions withheld comment pending direction from their full Commission.

Other than shifting medication rule making authority and in some jurisdictions the responsibility for operating and paying for the enforcement program, the State Racing Commissions are perhaps the entities least impacted by this legislation.

There is a concern that in an attempt to strengthen racing, this bill may reduce racing opportunities in some communities with a ripple effect on local economies, particularly in the agricultural sector.

“The RCI Board believes the sponsors and proponents of this bill should allay those fears by providing details about the anticipated costs associated with the new Authority and the Enforcement Agency as well as state specific operational costs should they assume the entire enforcement program now operated by the State,” Martin said.

Martin said that the statute, when implemented, will be similar in some ways to the system in place for RCI Members in Canada, except that investigations there and adjudications are handled by Provincial Racing Commissions with testing and screening limits handled by a federal agency uniformly.

The post ARCI: Financial Impact, Implementation Details Should Be Known Before Passage Of HISA Bill appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

ARCI Analysis: HISA Bill ‘Fixes The Kitchen By Building A New House’

The Association of Racing Commissioners International has prepared an analysis of the newly proposed legislation, the “Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act,” by Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell (R), so the group can prepare for a “smooth transition” should the measure be enacted. The ARCI has already released statements looking at the bill's effect on breeders, looking at control of medications in training, and looking at how the bill will affect state-level enforcement.

The new federal legislation being rushed through Congress will have a positive effect on the racing industry by mandating uniform and expanded anti-doping and medication policies, but it may have a devastating negative affect if the unknown costs force smaller and midsized racetracks, owners, trainers, and breeders out of business, according to an analysis prepared for the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI).

“S.4547 is better than the previous proposal in some ways, but concerns still exist as to whether it actually goes far enough to protect and regulate the care given young horses,” RCI President Ed Martin said, noting that the ARCI has not taken a position on the McConnell bill and is unsure if it will given reports that it may be a “done deal”.

The purpose of the analysis is to highlight changes that need to be understood early in order for there to be a smooth transition, Martin said. “This is enormous and I am not sure everyone understands how this might play out, especially given the fact that costs have not been explained, only how they are to be collected.”

US State Racing Commissions spend upwards of $21 million each year on the drug testing program. The analysis raises the possibility that some State Budget Offices and Legislatures may opt to shift that money to other state needs by handing off their programs to newly formed Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), which can independently tax racetracks, breeders, owners, trainers and veterinarians for program costs.

Under this scenario there is a real risk that racing industry interests may end up paying twice as the prospects for an industry specific tax cut to prevent that in most states may prove elusive.

Thirty Five Racing Venues in 19 States Put on “Watch List”

The analysis puts over thirty five racing venues in nineteen US States on a “watch list” based on concerns about the overall economics of racing and their ability to absorb undefined new mandated costs anticipated to be imposed by enactment of S.4547.

An inability or failure to absorb additional costs of doing business may force hard decisions by the ownership of these entities which may impact the extent or continuation of racing activity. Racing commissions and policy makers are being urged to work with these entities to clearly understand the legislation's impact locally.

“The sponsors and proponents of this legislation need to release detailed cost estimates for various scenarios for individual states,” Martin said. “I am shocked that Members of Congress would actually pass this bill without knowing the impact locally.”

Impact on Investigations and Involvement of Federal entities

There is a widespread impression that the newly formed Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) will have new investigatory powers beyond those that currently exist for the State Racing Commissions. S.4547 does not grant any expanded authority to the new entity.

“The recent federal indictments like those before them were the result of multi-agency cooperation where the work of state racing commissions were built upon and expanded by the reach of a federal law enforcement agency using federal wiretaps or other tools reserved for law enforcement,” Martin said. This bill does not give HISA racing investigators law enforcement status.

The bill also fails to include a proposal made by the ARCI at hearings on the previous Horse Racing Integrity Act to create designated desks in key federal agencies – the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Food and Drug Administration – to assist racing investigators and work to facilitate the involvement of federal law enforcement or regulators in pursuing racing related cases.

Other Key Changes

The analysis underscores additional changes:

- Creation of a uniform point of equine regulation beginning with the first timed workout for each covered horse;
- The HISA would have broad authority to regulate and control the administration of all medications given a “Covered Horse”;
- Inclusion of Breeders as a source of regulatory fees to help pay for the new program;
- Apparent less transparency than exists under the current system as current Open Meetings, Public Records Access, State Ethics laws, and independent audit and investigation of the regulatory entity have not been addressed;
- Consistent testing thresholds for all laboratories;
- A shift of the testing laboratory accreditation program away from the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium to the HISA
- Language to limit the direct participation by the existing network of expertise currently relied upon by the State Regulators and racing industry at large.

Anyone interested in receiving a copy of the analysis should request one by emailing info@arci.com or using the Download Link Here.

The post ARCI Analysis: HISA Bill ‘Fixes The Kitchen By Building A New House’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

UofL Introduces ARCI Racing Investigator Program

The University of Louisville (UofL) Equine Industry program launched the first-ever Racing Investigator Certificate Program Monday. The two-day program, an initiative of the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI), was conducted online, but the ARCI is working with UofL and the University of Arizona’s Racetrack Industry Program to hold future programs in person.

“The job of a racing investigator is a specialty involving knowledge not only of police procedures concerning interrogation and evidence gathering, but also of horse racing, the backstretch, and the horses themselves,” said ARCI Chair Tom Sage.

The participants will receive certification upon successfully passing an examination on the material presented, including basic horsemanship skills, safety procedures, racing terminology, overview of officials and their duties, constructing a condition book and drawing for races, equine medications, veterinary records, investigatory tools and techniques, evidence gathering, methods used by those attempting to avoid detection when violating medication testing procedures, and much more. The contents were produced through the efforts of the late John Wayne, who was considered to be one of the foremost authorities on racing regulation in the U.S.

“There is a tremendous amount of expertise and experience that is required to do this job properly,” said RCI President Ed Martin.

The ARCI suggests commissions and racetracks include a requirement for the present Racing Investigator Certificate as essential for employment. Initially expected to include 30-35 participants, the program already has exceeded expectations with more than three times the number of registrations than anticipated.

The post UofL Introduces ARCI Racing Investigator Program appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

ARCI Analysis: McConnell Bill May Incentivize States to Defund Anti-Doping And Medication Rule Enforcement

The Association of Racing Commissioners International is preparing an analysis of the newly proposed legislation, the “Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act,” by Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell (R), so the group can prepare for a “smooth transition” should the measure be enacted. Earlier this week, the ARCI released a statement looking at the bill's effect on breeders, and another looking at control of medications in training.

The newly proposed Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020 (S.4547) may provide an incentive for States to defund existing anti-doping and medication rule enforcement programs.

“COVID-19 has economically devastated many state budgets and the additional resources just may not be there to improve upon the existing anti-doping and medication enforcement program infrastructure to comply with S.4547,” said Ed Martin, President of the ARCI.

The RCI President said It is not unreasonable to expect that a State Budget Director or Legislative Committee will look at this law and question why the state needs to continue paying for the existing program, any new unfunded mandates, and a new federal authority as well as it's contracted enforcement agency. As the law allows the state to “off load” their current program and have the federally dictated system operate and pay for it, there will be an economic incentive to do that.

At that point racetracks, owners, trainers, breeders, and veterinarians may be assessed costs to replace the lost state investment and pay for the additional two entities envisioned by the bill.

Depending on the state, the local racing industry will continue to pay all current state assessments and taxes and may discover that they now must pay newly levied assessments to pay for the now federally mandated privatized program.

According to the analysis and assuming that there will be no industry specific state tax cut in these jurisdictions and existing revenue sources will remain, the racetracks, owners, trainers, breeders, and veterinarians in the following states (partial list) are potentially exposed to paying again should their state program be shifted to the newly created NGO:

Illinois	Colorado
Michigan	Florida
Oregon	Arizona
Massachusetts	Nebraska
Virginia	Washington
Indiana	New Mexico
Wyoming	Louisiana

Some states have the ability to directly bill racetracks for their program. These states may continue to operate their existing program and simply forward the newly enhanced bill for the current program, additional mandates and the two new entities directly to the racetracks which will then be required to pay the state. These jurisdictions include:

New Jersey	Texas
Kentucky	Delaware
Iowa	Oklahoma
Massachusetts	Nebraska
Virginia	Maryland* (see below)
West Virginia	Minnesota
New York* (see below)

In New York, state general fund monies are used to pay for the drug testing enforcement program and shortfalls are recouped from a commission determined industry assessment on racetracks and owners. Given New York's post virus severe financial needs going forward it would be possible for the state to cut funds for drug testing and allow the commission to impose fees on tracks and owners to pay for the shortfall and any additional costs imposed by the legislation.

If that were to happen or should the State hand the program off, the prospect for an industry specific tax cut would be slim and the industry would be totally required to make up the loss of state investment.

In Maryland, only certain costs can be forwarded to the tracks and additional mandates may require legislation in order to be passed through.

S.4547 envisions that racing commissions will pass the overhead costs for the new authority and its enforcement agency to industry participants based on the assessment bill received each year. The states do not have the authority to unilaterally impose and set such assessments with the possible exception of New York as indicated above.

The States have had to do the best job they could with the available funding. State budgets have always considered the ability of people to afford the assessments. This bill puts no limit on program funding which is a luxury no State Racing Commission ever has had.

The post ARCI Analysis: McConnell Bill May Incentivize States to Defund Anti-Doping And Medication Rule Enforcement appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post