Columbus, OH – The opening session of the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association’s National Conference at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort kicked off with a panel discussion on the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act entitled “HISA: Where are we now?” according to coverage of the event on the HBPA website.

National HBPA panel on HISA from left to right, moderator and longtime general counsel for National HBPA Peter Ecabert, equine attorney Pete Sacopulos, Oklahoma Representative Chris Kannady and ARCI President and CEO Ed Martin. National HBPA/Dennis Blake photo.

HISA is legislation that was signed into law by former President Donald Trump in late 2020 as part of the massive COVID relief bill. The legislation requires the law to go into effect July 1.

Along with Chris Kannady, a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives who also serves as Staff Judge Advocate for the Oklahoma National Guard, Peter Ecabert, the longtime general counsel of the National HBPA moderated the panel that also included Ed Martin, president and chief executive officer of the Association of Racing Commissioners International, and Pete Sacopulos, an equine attorney from Terre Haute, Ind.

The four panelists were very clear on their views of the problems and issues facing the HISA legislation.

Oklahoma Representative Kannady called HISA “a snake in the grass” snuck into a 6,000-page bill. He said the funding will fall to the state racing commissions, which he predicted would pass on the costs to the horsemen and the tracks.

“Each and every state legislature, I don’t care if you’re a Republican or Democrat (the question is going to be): who is going to pay for this?” Kannady said. “… Usually what happens with the federal government is they show up and say ‘We want you to do this federal program. But we’re going to give you 10 times what you put into the program.’ … Here they’re saying, ‘Here’s our law. You go pay for it.’ There’s no way in hell state legislators are going to hand over a bunch of money … to the federal government to run a federal program.

“It is never going to happen. It is destined for failure.”

HISA faces two federal lawsuits challenging its constitutionality: one filed by the National HBPA and 12 of its state affiliates in Lubbock, Texas, and one filed by Oklahoma, West Virginia and Louisiana and supported by six additional states in Lexington, Ky.

To read the complete story on the HBPA website, click here.