LEXINGTON, Ky. — Several states have joined in an amicus brief asking the federal court to hold the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020 as unconstitutional.
"The Constitution vests the legislative power in Congress and the executive power in the President," the Sept. 21 amicus brief states. "It does not vest any governmental power in private entities. Therefore, when Congress empowers private entities to wield governmental power, it acts unconstitutionally. In light of those principles, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020 is unconstitutional."
The states that filed the amicus brief — Ohio, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi and Nebraska —said that the Horse Act establishes a private entity and it gives that entity Congress’s legislative power to make rules that will bind the horseracing industry, it gives the same entity the power to enforce those rules and it permits the private entity to do much of this free from government oversight.
"Because the Constitution’s division of federal authority protects the States and their citizens ... and because a ruling upholding the Act’s unconstitutional delegations would seriously undermine that division of authority, the amici States urge this Court to hold the Act unconstitutional," the brief states.
Earlier this month, the plaintiffs, which include Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission, West Virginia, the West Virginia Racing Commission, Louisiana, Hanover Shoe Farms, the U.S. Trotting Association, Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association, Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority, Global Gaming RP and William Rogers Downs, filed a motion for summary judgment and opposition to the defendants' motion to dismiss.
The states argue that for decades they have successfully regulated the integrity and safety of horseracing but on Dec. 27, 2020, Congress enacted the Horse Act, which created a new federal regulatory regime over the industry.
"Congress did not create a new federal agency to run this national regulatory scheme, nor did it task a preexisting agency with the job. Instead, HISA bestows on a private, nonprofit corporation known as the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority significant regulatory power over the horseracing industry," the motion for summary judgment states. "HISA gives the Authority the exclusive power to craft regulations relating to doping, medication control, and racetrack safety in horseracing, relegating the Federal Trade Commission to a ministerial role in which it is required to approve and issue every one of the Authority’s regulations so long as they are consistent with HISA and the authority's prior rules."
The states claim Congress also disclaimed any responsibility for funding the authority and forced the funding responsibility onto the states. They claim the defendants' actions violate the U.S. Constitution. They claim they will be harmed if HISA is allowed to continue.
The Horse Act will begin July 1, 2022 with rules for medication and drug usage, testing and safety measures.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky case number: 5:21-cv-00104