Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4547 To improve the integrity and safety of horseracing by requiring uniform safety and performance standards, including a horseracing anti-doping and medication control program and a racetrack safety program to be developed and enforced by an independent Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 9, 2020 Mr. MCCONNELL (for himself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. MCSALLY, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To improve the integrity and safety of horseracing by requir- ing uniform safety and performance standards, including a horseracing anti-doping and medication control pro- gram and a racetrack safety program to be developed and enforced by an independent Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Horseracing Integrity 4 and Safety Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4547.IS S4547 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4547 IS SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘Authority’’ means 3 the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority des- 4 ignated by section 3(a). 5 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 6 means the Federal Trade Commission. 7 (3) COVERED HORSE.—The term ‘‘covered 8 horse’’ means any Thoroughbred horse, or any other 9 horse made subject to this Act by election of the ap- 10 plicable State racing commission or the breed gov- 11 erning organization for such horse under section 12 5(k), during the period— 13 (A) beginning on the date of the horse’s 14 first timed and reported workout at a racetrack 15 that participates in covered horseraces or at a 16 training facility; and 17 (B) ending on the date on which the Au- 18 thority receives written notice that the horse 19 has been retired. 20 (4) COVERED HORSERACE.—The term ‘‘covered 21 horserace’’ means any horserace involving covered 22 horses that has a substantial relation to interstate 23 commerce, including any Thoroughbred horserace 24 that is the subject of interstate off-track or advance 25 deposit wagers. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4547.IS S4547 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4547 IS (5) COVERED PERSONS.—The term ‘‘covered 1 persons’’ means all trainers, owners and breeders, 2 jockeys, racetracks, veterinarians, persons (legal and 3 natural) licensed by a State racing commission and 4 the agents, assigns, and employees of such persons 5 and other horse support personnel who are engaged 6 in the care, training, or racing of covered horses. 7 (6) EQUINE CONSTITUENCIES.—The term 8 ‘‘equine constituencies’’ means, collectively, owners 9 and breeders, trainers, racetracks, veterinarians, 10 State racing commissions, and jockeys who are en- 11 gaged in the care, training, or racing of covered 12 horses. 13 (7) EQUINE INDUSTRY REPRESENTATIVE.—The 14 term ‘‘equine industry representative’’ means an or- 15 ganization regularly and significantly engaged in the 16 equine industry, including organizations that rep- 17 resent the interests of, and whose membership con- 18 sists of, owners and breeders, trainers, racetracks, 19 veterinarians, State racing commissions, and jock- 20 eys. 21 (8) HORSERACING ANTI-DOPING AND MEDICA- 22 TION CONTROL PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘horseracing 23 anti-doping and medication control program’’ means 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4547.IS S4547 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4547 IS the anti-doping and medication program established 1 under section 6(a). 2 (9) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER.—The term 3 ‘‘immediate family member’’ shall include a spouse, 4 domestic partner, mother, father, aunt, uncle, sib- 5 ling, or child. 6 (10) INTERSTATE OFF-TRACK WAGER.—The 7 term ‘‘interstate off-track wager’’ has the meaning 8 given such term in section 3 of the Interstate Horse- 9 racing Act of 1978 (15 U.S.C. 3002). 10 (11) JOCKEY.—The term ‘‘jockey’’ means a 11 rider or driver of a covered horse in covered 12 horseraces. 13 (12) OWNERS AND BREEDERS.—The term 14 ‘‘owners and breeders’’ means those persons who ei- 15 ther hold ownership interests in covered horses or 16 who are in the business of breeding covered horses. 17 (13) PROGRAM EFFECTIVE DATE.—The term 18 ‘‘program effective date’’ means the earlier of— 19 (A) January 1 of the second year after the 20 date of the enactment of this Act; or 21 (B) the date that is 540 days after such 22 date of enactment. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4547.IS S4547 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4547 IS (14) RACETRACK.—The term ‘‘racetrack’’ 1 means an organization licensed by a State racing 2 commission to conduct covered horseraces. 3 (15) RACETRACK SAFETY PROGRAM.—The term 4 ‘‘racetrack safety program’’ means the program es- 5 tablished under section 7(a). 6 (16) STAKES RACE.—The term ‘‘stakes race’’ 7 means any race so designated by the racetrack at 8 which such race is run, including, without limitation, 9 the races comprising the Breeders’ Cup World 10 Championships and the races designated as graded 11 stakes by the American Graded Stakes Committee of 12 the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. 13 (17) STATE RACING COMMISSION.—The term 14 ‘‘State racing commission’’ means an entity des- 15 ignated by State law or regulation that has jurisdic- 16 tion over the conduct of horseracing within the ap- 17 plicable State. 18 (18) TRAINER.—The term ‘‘trainer’’ means an 19 individual engaged in the training of covered horses. 20 (19) TRAINING FACILITY.—The term ‘‘training 21 facility’’ means a location that is not a racetrack li- 22 censed by a State racing commission that operates 23 primarily to house covered horses and conduct offi- 24 cial timed workouts. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4547.IS S4547 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4547 IS (20) VETERINARIAN.—The term ‘‘veterinarian’’ 1 means a licensed veterinarian who provides veteri- 2 nary services to covered horses. 3 (21) WORKOUT.—The term ‘‘workout’’ means a 4 timed running of a horse over a predetermined dis- 5 tance not associated with a race or its first quali- 6 fying race, if such race is made subject to this Act 7 by election under section 5(k) of the horse’s breed 8 governing organization or the applicable State racing 9 commission. 10 SEC. 3. RECOGNITION OF THE HORSERACING INTEGRITY 11 AND SAFETY AUTHORITY. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The private, independent, self- 13 regulatory, nonprofit corporation, to be known as the 14 ‘‘Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’’, is recog- 15 nized for purposes of developing and implementing a 16 horseracing anti-doping and medication control program 17 and a racetrack safety program for covered horses, cov- 18 ered persons, and covered horseraces. 19 (b) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 20 (1) MEMBERSHIP.—The Authority shall be gov- 21 erned by a board of directors (in this section re- 22 ferred to as the ‘‘Board’’) comprised of nine mem- 23 bers as follows: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4547.IS S4547 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4547 IS (A) INDEPENDENT MEMBERS.—Five mem- 1 bers of the Board shall be independent mem- 2 bers selected from outside the equine industry. 3 (B) INDUSTRY MEMBERS.— 4 (i) IN GENERAL.—Four members of 5 the Board shall be industry members se- 6 lected from among the various equine con- 7 stituencies. 8 (ii) REPRESENTATION OF EQUINE 9 CONSTITUENCIES.—The industry members 10 shall be representative of the various 11 equine constituencies, and shall include not 12 more than one industry member from any 13 one equine constituency. 14 (2) CHAIR.—The chair of the Board shall be an 15 independent member described in paragraph (1)(A). 16 (3) BYLAWS.—The Board of the Authority shall 17 be governed by bylaws for the operation of the Au- 18 thority with respect to— 19 (A) the administrative structure and em- 20 ployees of the Authority; 21 (B) the establishment of standing commit- 22 tees; 23 (C) the procedures for filling vacancies on 24 the Board and the standing committees; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4547.IS S4547 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4547 IS (D) term limits for members and termi- 1 nation of membership; and 2 (E) any other matter the Board considers 3 necessary. 4 (c) STANDING COMMITTEES.— 5 (1) ANTI-DOPING AND MEDICATION CONTROL 6 STANDING COMMITTEE.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Authority shall es- 8 tablish an anti-doping and medication control 9 standing committee, which shall provide advice 10 and guidance to the Board on the development 11 and maintenance of the horseracing anti-doping 12 and medication control program. 13 (B) MEMBERSHIP.—The anti-doping and 14 medication control standing committee shall be 15 comprised of seven members as follows: 16 (i) INDEPENDENT MEMBERS.—A ma- 17 jority of the members shall be independent 18 members selected from outside the equine 19 industry. 20 (ii) INDUSTRY MEMBERS.—A minority 21 of the members shall be industry members 22 selected to represent the various equine 23 constituencies, and shall include not more 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4547.IS S4547 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4547 IS than one industry member from any one 1 equine constituency. 2 (iii) QUALIFICATION.—A majority of 3 individuals selected to serve on the anti- 4 doping and medication control standing 5 committee shall have significant, recent ex- 6 perience in anti-doping and medication 7 control rules. 8 (C) CHAIR.—The chair of the anti-doping 9 and medication control standing committee 10 shall be an independent member of the Board 11 described in subsection (b)(1)(A). 12 (2) RACETRACK SAFETY STANDING COM- 13 MITTEE.— 14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Authority shall es- 15 tablish a racetrack safety standing committee, 16 which shall provide advice and guidance to the 17 Board on the development and maintenance of 18 the racetrack safety program. 19 (B) MEMBERSHIP.—The racetrack safety 20 standing committee shall be comprised of seven 21 members as follows: 22 (i) INDEPENDENT MEMBERS.—A ma- 23 jority of the members shall be independent 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4547.IS S4547 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4547 IS members selected from outside the equine 1 industry. 2 (ii) INDUSTRY MEMBERS.—A minority 3 of the members shall be industry members 4 selected to represent the various equine 5 constituencies. 6 (C) CHAIR.—The chair of the racetrack 7 safety standing committee shall be an industry 8 member of the Board described in subsection 9 (b)(1)(B). 10 (d) NOMINATING COMMITTEE.— 11 (1) MEMBERSHIP.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The nominating com- 13 mittee of the Authority shall be comprised of 14 seven independent members selected from busi- 15 ness, sports, and academia. 16 (B) INITIAL MEMBERSHIP.—The initial 17 nominating committee members shall be set 18 forth in the governing corporate documents of 19 the Authority. 20 (C) VACANCIES.—After the initial com- 21 mittee members are appointed in accordance 22 with subparagraph (B), vacancies shall be filled 23 by the Board pursuant to rules established by 24 the Authority. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4547.IS S4547 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4547 IS (2) CHAIR.—The chair of the nominating com- 1 mittee shall be selected by the nominating committee 2 from among the members of the nominating com- 3 mittee. 4 (3) SELECTION OF MEMBERS OF THE BOARD 5 AND STANDING COMMITTEES.— 6 (A) INITIAL MEMBERS.—The nominating 7 committee shall select the initial members of 8 the Board and the standing committees de- 9 scribed in subsection (c). 10 (B) SUBSEQUENT MEMBERS.—The nomi- 11 nating committee shall recommend individuals 12 to fill any vacancy on the Board or on such 13 standing committees. 14 (e) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—To avoid conflicts of 15 interest, the following individuals may not be selected as 16 a member of the Board or as an independent member of 17 a nominating or standing committee under this section: 18 (1) An individual who has a financial interest 19 in, or provides goods or services to, covered horses. 20 (2) An official or officer— 21 (A) of an equine industry representative; 22 or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4547.IS S4547 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4547 IS (B) who serves in a governance or policy- 1 making capacity for an equine industry rep- 2 resentative. 3 (3) An employee of, or an individual who has a 4 business or commercial relationship with, an indi- 5 vidual described in paragraph (1) or (2). 6 (4) An immediate family member of an indi- 7 vidual described in paragraph (1) or (2). 8 (f) FUNDING.— 9 (1) INITIAL FUNDING.— 10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Initial funding to es- 11 tablish the Authority and underwrite its oper- 12 ations before the program effective date shall be 13 provided by loans obtained by the Authority. 14 (B) BORROWING.—The Authority may bor- 15 row funds toward the funding of its operations. 16 (C) ANNUAL CALCULATION OF AMOUNTS 17 REQUIRED.— 18 (i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the 19 date that is 90 days before the program ef- 20 fective date, and not later than November 21 1 each year thereafter, the Authority shall 22 determine and provide to each State racing 23 commission the estimated amount required 24 from the State— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4547.IS S4547 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 4547 IS (I) to fund the State’s propor- 1 tionate share of the horseracing anti- 2 doping and medication control pro- 3 gram and the racetrack safety pro- 4 gram for the next calendar year; and 5 (II) to liquidate the State’s pro- 6 portionate share of any loan or fund- 7 ing shortfall in the current calendar 8 year and any previous calenda [Text truncated for display. 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