UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

BEFORE THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

COMMISSIONERS: Lina M. Khan, Chair

Rebecca Kelly Slaughter

Alvaro M. Bedoya

ORDER APPROVING THE BUDGET FOR 2024 PROPOSED BY 

THE HORSERACING INTEGRITY AND SAFETY AUTHORITY 

January 5, 2024 

I. Background on the Commission’s Oversight of HISA’s 2024 Budget

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020, 15 U.S.C. §§ 3051–3060, recognizes a

self-regulatory nonprofit organization, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (“HISA”

or “the Authority”), which is charged with developing proposed rules on a variety of subjects

relating to horseracing. See id. § 3053(a). Under 15 U.S.C. § 3052(f), the Federal Trade

Commission (“the Commission”) has roles in overseeing the funding of the Authority’s 

operations and in approving the means whereby the Authority collects fees to support its

operations.

On March 22, 2023, the Commission announced the adoption of new procedures whereby

the Commission reviews and approves HISA’s annual budget.1

 Those procedures, codified at 16 

C.F.R. §§ 1.150–1.152 (“Budget Oversight Rule”), specified (1) the Authority must annually

submit its next year’s proposed budget to the Commission, (2) the criteria whereby the

Commission decides whether to approve a proposed HISA budget, and (3) the process by which 

the Commission decides whether to approve certain deviations from an approved budget (e.g., 

1 See 88 Fed. Reg. 18034 (Mar. 27, 2023).

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total expenditures in excess of the approved amount, or a line-item expenditure of 10 percent or

more above the approved amount). Id.

On September 1, 2023, the Authority submitted a “Notice of Filing of HISA Budget” to

the Commission, setting forth the 2024 budget approved by the Authority’s Board of Directors as

required by the Budget Oversight Rule. After reviewing this Notice and additional information

the Authority provided to the Commission, the Commission determined that the Authority had

provided “sufficient information for the members of the Board of Directors of the Authority to

exercise their fiduciary duty of care,” 16 C.F.R. § 1.150(d), and the Commission published the

Authority’s proposed 2024 budget in the Federal Register and invited public comment.2 The

public comment period expired on November 27, 2023.

The Budget Oversight Rule provides that after the close of the comment period, the

Commission must either approve or disapprove the proposed budget. “The Commission will

approve the proposed budget if the Commission determines that, on balance, the proposed

budget serves the goals of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act in a prudent and costeffective manner, utilizing commercially reasonable terms with all outside vendors, and that its

anticipated revenues are sufficient to meet its anticipated expenditures.” 16 C.F.R. § 1.151(c).

Commission staff reviewed the proposed budgetary line items and accompanying narratives and

found that these conditions were met. The Commission must take into consideration any public

comments received. Id. § 1.151(a).

2 88 Fed. Reg. 77582 (Nov. 13, 2023).

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II. Discussion of Public Comments

The Authority’s proposed 2024 budget garnered 6 public comments from 5

commenters, several of which did not touch upon the decisional criteria that the Commission

must apply in determining whether to approve a proposed budget.3

A comment posted by the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society

Legislative Fund addressed the decisional criteria by expressing support of HISA’s 2024

budget and support for the allocation of the largest portion of the budget to the anti-doping

and medication control (“ADMC”) program, including lab testing, in order to help ensure

the safety of horses and jockeys.4 Other commenters who raised points relevant to the

Authority’s proposed 2024 budget opined that HISA’s spending to date has not produced

significant improvements in the horseracing industry with respect to prevention of horse

injuries or effectively identifying covered persons who are violating HISA’s rules.5

After the close of the comment period, the Authority submitted a letter to the

Commission responding to the public comments, which the FTC posted on regulations.gov

3 See Cmt. of Steve Cooper, FTC-2023-0067-0005 (stating in part: “Hisa is a joke n we’re being forced to fund the

end of horse racing in America. ... the horsemen want a fair playing field and hisa isn’t the answer. Ask the trainers

how to fix racing get the government out of my barn.”); Cmt. of Catherine Pool, FTC-2023-0067-0006 (stating in

part: “I object to this ‘agency’ receiving any tax dollars as they are a FOR PROFIT agency making money off of the

horse racing industry. They consist mainly of lawyers and legal consultants who lack the very fundamental

knowledge about racing and horses to be effective ... and should be replaced with ... ANYBODY HOW [sic]

ACTUALLY KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT RACING ... NOT LAWYERS!”); Cmt. of Sharon Boland, FTC2023-0067-0007 (discussing a recent episode of the television news program 60 Minutes and statements of HISA

CEO Lisa Lazarus in an interview during the program). The Commission need not, and does not, take a position on

any claims or criticisms leveled by the commenters that do not pertain to the Commission’s decisional criteria. See

also 16 C.F.R. § 1.151(e) (instructing commenters to provide their “views as to the decisional criteria and whether

any line items should be modified”). 4 See FTC-2023-0067-0008 (“We are highly supportive of HISA’s 2024 budget to enhance horse safety and welfare

on racetracks.”). 5 See Cmt. of Sherri Mitchell, FTC-2023-0067-0004 (stating in part: “So basically because of all their

overexpenditures [sic], rules that have not prevented one horse from being injured or finding one horse that was

injured due to doping, its [sic] costing the horsement [sic] roughly $3 million per positive.”); Cmt. of Sharon

Boland, FTC-2023-0067-0003 (stating in part: “HISA has been in force for over 2 years now, with the anti doping

and medication rules since March 27 at a cost to the industry in excess of $71 million dollars. In that time they have

not caught any drugs that were already on the spectrum, or ‘cheaters’ as they have labeled even the innocent.”).

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as a related document on Docket FTC-2023-0067.6 The Authority noted the lack of

comments addressing the decisional criteria set forth in 16 C.F.R. § 1.151(c), but responded

to comments criticizing the Authority by describing the Authority’s actions to date,

including (1) launching and implementing both a Racetrack Safety Program (July 1, 2022)

and an ADMC Program (May 22, 2023), “establishing, for the first time, a national, uniform

set of integrity and safety rules in the sport”; (2) completion of more than 300,000 pre-race

veterinary inspections of Thoroughbreds before every race; (3) collection of more than one

million veterinary treatment records in the Authority’s portal, which will be used to help

identify horses at increased risk for injury; (4) significant decrease in the use of the crop in

racing from July to December 2022; and (5) testing by the Horseracing Integrity and

Welfare Unit of 33,000 horses since launching on May 22, 2023, including post-race tests,

out-of-competition tests, vets list tests, and claimed horses.

Therefore, having considered the public comments and the Authority’s response

thereto, the Commission concludes “that, on balance, the proposed budget serves the goals

of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act in a prudent and cost-effective manner, utilizing

commercially reasonable terms with all outside vendors, and that its anticipated revenues are

sufficient to meet its anticipated expenditures.” 16 C.F.R. § 1.151(c).

III. Conclusion

For the foregoing reasons, the Authority’s proposed 2024 budget is APPROVED.

6 See https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FTC-2023-0067.

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