LEXINGTON, Ky. — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Monday afternoon he would be filing legislation this September to bring universal safety regulations and standards to horse racing.
"We've seen painful tragedies on the track in recent years, doping scandals that rocked the horse racing community," McConnell, R.-Kentucky, said. "These challenges pose a threat not only to this industry but to the 24,000 Kentuckians who work in it."
"The industry is responsible for 44,100 direct jobs and 16,394 indirect jobs in Kentucky, so we must assure its future," Rep. Andy Barr, R-Kentucky, said.
McConnell and other leaders in the horse racing industry announced the formation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, which would be a private, independent nonprofit that would develop and implement an anti-doping and medication control program and a racetrack surface and operations safety plan. The authority will be led by a nine-person board that would include people in business, sports and academic circles, with a majority of the board members independent of the equine industry.
McConnell said he will be filing the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act in the Senate this September, which will give the board federal recognition and enforcement ability to develop uniform and baseline standards.
"With the weight of the federal government behind the board, we can improve current regulations," he said. "We can better protect every competitor and give each of them a fair shot at the winner's circle."
"The bill is designed to create uniformity, consistency and accountability across all the various states that conduct horse racing," Bill Carstanjen, the president and CEO and Churchill Downs Incorporated, said.
Right now, horse racing rules and regulations are developed and implemented by state racing authorities, which can differ state-by-state.
"Thoroughbred racing is regulated at the state level, which has resulted in a patchwork of medication restrictions, inconsistent enforcement and operational requirements and testing protocols and accountability measures that vary across state lines," Drew Fleming with the Breeder's Cup said.
The bill would build off the Horseracing Integrity Act that had been pushed by Barr in the House. The HIA had received majority support in the House but did have similar success in the Senate.
Barr said he and Rep. Paul Tonko, D.-New York, who also introduced the HIA, will amend their bill to mirror McConnell's legislation.
McConnell said he has already spoken with some colleagues across the aisle, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, who had co-sponsored the Senate version of the HIA. He said he anticipates bipartisan support for this legislation despite the current political climate.
"This is not a particularly bipartisan place we're in right now in Congress as you may have noticed, but we're hopeful a subject like this can overcome the partisanship that's been pretty much on full display as we get closer and closer to the election," McConnell said.