A congressional committee voted Thursday to advance a bill that would prevent college athletes from being considered employees of their schools, conferences or the NCAA.
The vote in the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee represents the first tangible signs of progress the college sports industry has made in its years-long push for a federal law to help reshape college sports. . It comes just weeks after the NCAA and its power conferences announced they had agreed to share significantly more revenue with athletes as part of an antitrust lawsuit settlement.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Bob Good (R-Virginia) on the same day the antitrust settlement was announced, is in the early stages of the legislative process. It is likely to face opposition from Democrats in the Senate, as well as legal challenges if passed.
The NCAA is currently a defendant in multiple ongoing court cases arguing that college athletes should be granted employee rights. A federal court case (Johnson v. NCAA) seeks a minimum wage and other employment protections for college athletes. Two other active cases before the National Labor Relations Board seek to grant college athletes the right to form unions and bargain collectively.
NCAA President Charlie Baker said earlier this week that he hoped the recent antitrust settlement, if approved by a judge, would provide the framework for a college sports model that allows schools to compensate their athletes without converting them. in employees. Baker said he doesn't believe most college athletes want to be considered employees.
“A lot of the conversations I've had with people in Congress are, 'The reason we're interested in jobs is because of the compensation issue,'” Baker said earlier this week. “If the court blesses [the antitrust settlement]”then it puts us in a position where we can go to Congress and say that one of the three branches of the federal government blessed this as a model for creating compensation without creating jobs.”
The NCAA and power conferences have pressured Congress to adopt laws limiting their legal liability and preventing athletes from being employed in recent years. College sports leaders say these laws are necessary to preserve many sports teams and departments that cannot afford to pay their athletes as if they were workers. Both the NCAA and the power conferences have publicly stated their support for Good's bill.
The bill is intended to be a limited part of a broader package of federal legislation that guarantees more benefits for athletes in the future while preventing them from being employed. However, no bill has yet been introduced to guarantee benefits to athletes.
The Workforce and Education Committee voted 23-16 to move forward with the bill. The 23 votes in favor came from Republicans. The 16 dissenting votes came from Democrats. The debate over whether Congress should weigh in on the business model of college sports has been a partisan debate for the past several years.
Democrats in the House and Senate have previously cosponsored bills that would have the exact opposite effect of Good's bill: codifying the right of college athletes to unionize. Those lawmakers and other advocates say athletes need the ability to collectively bargain to ensure they can negotiate for items like better health care and a fair share of the money they generate for a multibillion-dollar industry.
Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), a former college volleyball player who has been an active participant in the Capitol debate over the future of college sports, said she will vote against Good's bill if it reaches the floor. Camera.
“Once again, Republicans in Congress have decided to move forward with legislation to limit the rights of college athletes with little to no input from the athletes themselves,” Trahan said in a statement after Thursday's vote.
If passed, Good's bill would halt the NLRB's ongoing efforts and Johnson v. NCAA to turn athletes into employees. Paul McDonald, lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the Johnson case, said he believes the bill as written would violate federal equal protection laws. McDonald said it is illegal to prevent some college students from being employed while others in that category, such as cafeteria workers or teaching assistants, are allowed to earn wages and unionize.
“If enacted, [the bill] would never survive a court challenge. I mean, it's a waste of time,” McDonald said in a statement provided to ESPN after Thursday's vote. “Delaying tactics have consequences. “The only thing the NCAA has accomplished by unnecessarily prolonging the recognition of college athletes as hourly employees, like their fellow students, is to significantly increase the cost of resolution borne by its members.”
In a news release issued before Thursday's vote, Good said his bill was intended to ensure that the tradition of college sports would not be “ruined by reclassifying student-athletes as employees.”
“My legislation will help maintain a balance between athletics and academics, ensuring that college sports programs remain viable, beneficial and enjoyable for all student-athletes,” he said.
