Ask HISA #1: HISA's Vendors

With a view to pulling the veil back on the hows and whys of their operations, a representative of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) Authority will every week answer a question of industry importance posed by the TDN.

If you have any questions you'd like to ask HISA, please feel free to send them over to us at the following email address: danross@thetdn.com

Q: During the recent virtual HISA town hall, there were several questions about the outside vendors that HISA has hired. Could you provide a full list of the outside vendors HISA has hired since its inception, the amounts paid for their services, and an explanation of your procurement process?

Lisa Lazarus:

The following is a summary of Lazarus's response. To read her response in full, please click here.

For vendor payments of more than $5,000 made between 2023 through 2025, please click here.

The procurement process is broken into three categories. For transactions of $5,000 or less, the HISA representative procuring the vendor must exercise sound judgment and, where practicable, “seek competitive offers to ensure lowest cost or best value for goods or services to be provided,” wrote Lazarus.

For contracts of between $5,001 and $9,999, the HISA representative also needs the prior sign-off from their supervising director and the chief financial officer.

For Procurement Transactions estimated to cost $10,000 or more, “the HISA Representative shall exercise sound business judgment and accompany the Procurement Action with documented market research (e.g., comparing the prices and other terms offered by the selected vendor against the prices and other terms offered by at least two other vendors) to ensure lowest cost or best value for goods or services to be provided.

“The HISA Representative shall seek and secure the approval of their supervising Director and the Chief Financial Officer prior to entering into the Procurement Transaction. Documentation demonstrating compliance with this section should be sent to Niki Robb at Niki.Robb@hisaus.org,” wrote Lazarus.

There are exceptions to these procurement requirements-when done in reaction to an unforeseen crisis or incident, and when, after a thorough search has been conducted, only one good source can be identified.

HISA can also enter into an interim contract to prevent a lapse of contract performance “whenever an existing contract has been or will be terminated or suspended prior to the end of its original term or whenever a vendor is unable to complete performance under a contract,” wrote Lazarus.

To avoid any potential conflict of interest issues, “all HISA Representatives who participate in the selection or acceptance of a Procurement Transaction must comply with HISA's Conflicts of Interest and Business Ethics Policy (the “Conflict Policy”), a copy of which is available on HISA's website,” wrote Lazarus.