Congress introduces bill addressing national guidelines for college sports
With the settlement of three athlete-compensation antitrust cases against the NCAA and the Power Five conferences having received final approval from a federal district judge on June 6, members of the U.S. House of Representatives have moved into action with new legislative proposals regarding national rules for college sports.
On Wednesday, June 10, Reps. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., and Janelle Bynum, D-Ore., introduced a bill that comes shortly after Reps. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., and Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., circulated a discussion draft of a bill that would largely put into federal law the terms and new rules-making structure of the settlement.
Advertisement
The discussion draft is set to be the centerpiece of a hearing June 11 by a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Bilirakis, who has been involved in previous college-sports bill efforts, chairs the subcommittee. Guthrie chairs the full committee.
The bill – in addition to being a bi-partisan presentation – continues recent work related to college sports from McClain, who is the current House Republican Conference chair. That makes her the GOP's No. 4-ranking member in the House. In April, McClain introduced a bill that would prevent college athletes from being employees of their schools, conferences or an athletic association.
The discussion draft – as posted on Congress' general resource site, Congress.gov - includes language that specifically would allow the NCAA, and potentially the new Collegiate Sports Commission, to make rules in areas that have come into legal dispute in recent years and in areas that the NCAA wants to shield from legal dispute.
The discussion draft, first reported on by The Washington Post, also includes language that would require most Division I schools to provide a series of benefits for athletes that are currently called for under NCAA and some conferences' rules but do not have the force of federal law.
Advertisement
In addition, the discussion draft includes a 'placeholder' section for language that likely would be connected to providing antitrust or other legal protection for various provisions.
According the discussion draft, an 'interstate collegiate athletic association' would be able to 'establish and enforce rules relating to … the manner in which … student athletes may be recruited' to play sports; 'the transfer of a student athlete between institutions'; and 'the number of seasons or length of time for which a student athlete is eligible to compete, academic standards, and code of conduct'.
The NCAA's rules regarding when recruits can be offered money in exchange for the use of their name, image and likeness; athletes' ability to freely transfer; and the number of seasons in which they are eligible to compete all of have been – or currently are being – addressed in federal and state courts across the country. That has raised concerns for NCAA officials about the future of rules such as those concerning academic eligibility requirements
The discussion draft also includes language that would require most Division I schools to provide a series of benefits for athletes that are currently called for under NCAA and some conferences' rules but do not have the force of law.
Advertisement
These include medical coverage for athletically related injuries for at least two years after the conclusion of an athlete's career; guaranteed financial aid that would allow an athlete to complete an undergraduate degree; and 'an administrative structure that provides independent medical care and affirms the unchallengeable autonomous authority of primary athletics health care providers (team physicians and athletic trainers) to determine medical management and return-to-play decisions related to student athletes.'
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Congress introduces college sports bill proposing national rules
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
29 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Permitless concealed carry in North Carolina faces uphill battle after some GOP pushback
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A bill to let adults carry concealed handguns without a permit cleared the North Carolina legislature on Wednesday, however the path to joining the majority of U.S. states with similar laws remains uncertain. The GOP-backed legislation faces a likely veto from Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, as well as pushback from a handful of Republicans who voted against the legislation in the state House. House Speaker Destin Hall acknowledged those concerns after Wednesday's vote. 'I would imagine that — math being math — that it's probably a low percentage relative to other bills,' Hall told reporters. If the bill becomes law, North Carolina would become the 30th state in the country to legalize permitless carrying of a concealed handgun, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. North Carolina would also be one of the last states in the Southeast to implement that legislation. The legislation allows for eligible people with valid identification over the age of 18 to carry a concealed handgun. More than half of states with permitless concealed carry set their age limit at 21 and older, while the rest have the legal carrying age at 18, according to the NCSL. Currently, a person must be 21 and older to obtain a concealed handgun permit in North Carolina. To qualify, an applicant must pass a firearms safety training course and not 'suffer from a physical or mental infirmity that prevents the safe handling of a handgun,' according to state law. Approving permitless concealed carry has been a goal of gun-rights activists in North Carolina for years, with House Republicans historically supportive of the idea. Some see it as the next step after Republican lawmakers successfully eliminated the permit system that required sheriffs to conduct character evaluations and criminal history checks for pistol applicants in 2023. Conservative advocates for the bill say it would strengthen Second Amendment rights for North Carolinians. Republican lawmakers also disputed that the bill would make the state more dangerous, as 'law-abiding citizens' would be the only people that would benefit from the permit elimination, not criminals, Republican Rep. Brian Echevarria said. 'Rights to keep and bear arms are constitutionally inseparable,' Echevarria said. 'If a person cannot own a firearm, they cannot bear a firearm.' The bill's passage tees up one of the first opportunities for a likely veto from Stein if he stays aligned with his fellow Democrats in the legislature. Stein has a more powerful veto stamp than his predecessor Roy Cooper , after Republicans lost their House supermajority last year that allowed them to override vetoes and enact their legislative agenda with relative ease. Now, House Republicans would need to count on a Democrat to join in their override efforts. Reaching that goal seems especially daunting, considering all of the present House Democrats — and two Republicans — voted against the bill. The governor's office didn't respond to a request for comment on the legislation, but House Deputy Democratic Leader Cynthia Ball said in a committee Tuesday that Stein was opposed to it. Several Democratic legislators said it would make communities unsafe by loosening who can carry a concealed handgun without training. Democrats also raised issue with the age limit set in the bill, saying it would put guns in the hands of young people who aren't yet mature enough to have one. 'Do you not remember when you were 18? We are prone and so susceptible to peer pressure, we are hotheaded, we are emotional,' Democratic Rep. Tracy Clark said on the House floor after retelling her personal experience of losing two friends in college to gun violence. Those seeking a permit for their concealed handgun — such as for the purpose of traveling with a firearm to a state that requires a permit — would still be able to do so. The bill also heightens the felony punishment for those who assault law enforcement officers or first responders with a firearm. A separate bill that makes gun safety courses available at North Carolina community colleges for people 18 and up passed in a near-unanimous House vote directly after the concealed carry permit repeal legislation was approved. ___ Associated Press writer Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh contributed to this report. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Fox News
32 minutes ago
- Fox News
House advances Trump's $9.4B spending cuts package targeting NPR, PBS, USAID to House-wide vote
President Donald Trump's $9.4 billion spending cuts package survived a key hurdle on Wednesday afternoon, setting the measure up for a final House-wide vote later this week. Trump's proposal, which was introduced as legislation by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., would cut $8.3 billion from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and just over $1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting distributes federal funding to NPR and PBS. The House of Representatives made a procedural motion known as a "rule vote," which passed mostly along party lines. The rule passing now allows for debate on the $9.4 billion spending cut measure, followed by a final House-wide vote. But it's not atypical for House leaders to include unrelated measures in rule votes, as is the case with the spending cuts package – House GOP leaders included a provision with minor changes to Trump's "one big, beautiful bill" to account for the Senate needing to amend the bill. That latter piece of legislation, a vast tax and immigration bill, is moving through the budget reconciliation process. By dropping the Senate's threshold for advancement from 60 votes to 51, it allows the party in power to skirt the minority – in this case, Democrats – on vast pieces of legislation, provided they adhere to a specific set of budgetary rules. House GOP leaders said they needed to make the recent changes to the bill to better adhere to the Senate's "Byrd Bath," when the Senate parliamentarian reviews the bill and removes anything not adhering to reconciliation guidelines. Whereas that deals with the government's mandatory spending processes that are more difficult to amend, the $9.4 billion spending cuts package tackles discretionary spending that Congress controls every year. It's called a "rescissions package," which is a formal proposal by the White House to claw back federal funds already allocated for the current fiscal year. Like reconciliation, the mechanism allows for a 51-vote majority in the Senate rather than 60. Congress has 45 days to consider it, or it is deemed rejected. Republican leaders have held up this rescissions package as the first step to codifying the billions of dollars of government waste identified by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Trump allies have also made clear they view this first package as a test of what kind of cuts congressional Republicans can stomach. And while the rule vote was expected to pass, the bill could have trouble ahead of its expected Thursday afternoon vote. Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., pointed out in a bipartisan statement that the media funding represents less than 0.01% of the federal budget and said taking that money away would "dismantle a trusted source of information for millions of Americans." Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., told reporters on Tuesday that he got assurances that USAID cuts would exclude critical medical funding. "I feel better than what I was hearing last week, that was gonna be a total cut," he said, without revealing whether he would support the bill.
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Congress Agrees on One Thing: National Seersucker Day
Congress can't seem to agree on anything these days with Republicans and Democrats seemingly at loggerheads over every piece of legislation. But Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana, and Rev. Raphael Warnack, a Democrat from Georgia, have put aside party politics to partner on a resolution marking Thursday, June 12, National Seersucker Day. This is the 12th year that Cassidy has championed the cause, which celebrates the summer fabric, since he revived the tradition in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014. More from WWD Ray and Charles Eames' Furniture to Be Focus of New Exhibition Gaurav Gupta Talks Bollywood Star Kiara Advani's Met Gala Gown - It's a Loaner Tarun Tahiliani Offers a Modern View of India-made Fashion 'Seersucker Day honors the New Orleans invention that's made America fashionable — and the summer heat bearable — since 1909,' Cassidy said. 'For one day a year, the Capitol looks a little more like the French Quarter. We might not always agree on policy, but we can all agree: wool in June is a mistake.' 'I'm excited to return as the co-chair for the annual Seersucker Day in our nation's capital and continue celebrating this iconic Senate tradition,' said Warnock. 'Seersucker is more than just a fabric, it is a material deeply woven into Southern culture. National Seersucker Day is a proud bipartisan tradition, and I look forward to working alongside Senator Cassidy to carry it on.' The use of seersucker was popularized in 1909 by New Orleans businessman Joseph Haspel Sr., who brought the puckered cloth popular in India to his home town and created suits that would stand up to the city's scorching summer heat and humidity. Haspel's great granddaughter Laurie Haspel Aronson still runs the company today. In 1996, former Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott brought Seersucker Thursday to Congress, where it was observed for several years. After falling by the wayside in 2012 and 2013, Cassidy revived it. The senator has invited other members of Congress to don their seersucker outfits for an official photograph at the Ohio Clock in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. ET, and he also encouraged all Americans to wear the fabric as well. Best of WWD Young Brooke Shields' Style Evolution, Archive Photos: From Runway Modeling & Red Carpets to Meeting Princess Diana The Most Memorable French Open Tennis Outfits With Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka & More [PHOTOS] Beyoncé's 'Cowboy Carter Tour' Outfits, Live Updates: Schiaparelli, Burberry, Loewe and More
