A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of West Virginia, Louisiana and Texas in a case regarding the implementation of federal racetrack safety rules for horse racing.
Both the nonprofit Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), and the federal act that created it, were declared unconstitutional by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Congress originally passed HISA in 2020.
The authority would have overseen safety programs and made decisions regulating doping and medication in horse racing. In the past, these decisions were made at the state level.
The court ruled that the act gave too much power to the agency and not enough to the Federal Trade Commission, which had the power to approve or reject HISA regulations but not to modify them.
