In response to a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that found the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act unconstitutional, Congress has included an amendment in a $1.7 trillion government spending bill that gives the Federal Trade Commission a stronger oversight role of the private, non-governmental Authority the 2020 law created.
The omnibus bill, which exited the Senate and House Appropriations Committees early Tuesday morning, is designed to avert a federal government shutdown at midnight Friday.
The HISA clean-up language is intended to satisfy constitutional challenges stating the federal government may not delegate rule-making authority to a private entity. In the original language, the FTC could accept or reject proposed rules from the Authority, but not amend them.
The proposed amendment to Section 1204(e) of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 30534(e) states that the Federal Trade Commission, “by rule in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, may abrogate, add to, and modify the rules of the Authority promulgated in accordance with this Act as the Commission finds necessary or appropriate to ensure the fair administration of the Authority, to conform the rules of the Authority to requirements of this Act and applicable rules approved by the Commission, or otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of this Act.”
Opponents of HISA have stated they will file additional lawsuits challenging the law in the event amendments are added to the 2020 law.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) championed the original legislation, which was part of a 2020 government spending bill signed into law by then-President Donald Trump, and pushed for the amendment to be included in the 2022 omnibus bill. A number of other extenders, technical corrections, or proposals unrelated to government spending are in the bill. They include language as diverse as protecting lobster fishing in the North Atlantic, banning the Chinese-owned TikTok app from government devices, and clarification of the vice president's role in counting electoral votes.
The bill's funding of the Department of Agriculture stipulates that the government will not fund inspection of horse meat facilities, essentially continuing the ban on horse slaughter in the U.S.
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