The Louisiana Attorney General’s Office remains optimistic about its efforts to sideline a new federal effort to regulate the horseracing industry in the wake of oral arguments before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
Those proceedings took place late last month as Louisiana, Texas and West Virginia made arguments in two cases before the Fifth Circuit. The states contend the federal government overstepped its regulatory authority by creating the new Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA).
In July, federal Judge Terry Doughty of the Western District of Louisiana sided with Louisiana and West Virginia in their arguments that states have “sovereign interests” in drawing up their own rules for horseracing within their borders. Doughty’s opinion has been appealed to the Fifth Circuit.
In oral arguments last month, Louisiana Deputy Solicitor General Shae McPhee said that HISA rules had been adopted after only two weeks of public comment – a time period that flies in the face of the Administrative Procedures Act.
Cory Dennis, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry’s press secretary, said the office remains confident about its case in the wake of last month’s oral arguments.
“We don’t get into a fight we don’t think we can win,” Dennis told the Louisiana Record.
Landry said on a recent radio broadcast that the establishment of HISA amounts to a federal takeover of the industry.
“This is basically the federal government coming into the states and saying, ‘We are now going to regulate horse racing,’” he said. “Louisiana has over 100 years built an entire industry and culture around horse racing.”
The new federal horseracing authority, which was approved through the passage of congressional legislation in the wake of doping concerns and horse deaths, will hurt those who work the hardest in the horseracing industry and receive the least rewards – trainers and jockeys, according to Landry.
Joining the state in the litigation are the Louisiana State Racing Commission, Louisiana Horeseman’s Benevolent & Protective Association, Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association and the Jockeys Guild.