The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- March 1, 1999

State legislation relating to student-athletes

This report summarizes legislation currently pending before state legislatures that could affect or is of interest to staff of intercollegiate athletics programs and student-athletes. Set forth below is a list of 48 bills from 27 states. The report includes 42 bills that have been recently introduced and six pending bills where legislative action has occurred since the publication of the February 15, 1999, NCAA News. Newly introduced bills are marked with an asterisk (*).

The State Legislation Report is based largely on data provided by the Information for Public Affairs online state legislation system as of February 11, 1999. The bills selected for inclusion in this report were drawn from a larger pool of measures that concern sports and, therefore, do not necessarily represent all of the bills that would be of interest to individual member institutions. Bills pending before the governing bodies of the District of Columbia and U.S. territories are not available on an online basis and are not included in this report.

The NCAA has not independently verified the accuracy or completeness of the data provided by Information for Public Affairs and is providing this summary as a service to its members. For further information regarding a particular bill, members should contact the state legislature concerned.

The bills set forth below address the following subjects:

Subject Number of Bills

Athlete agents 6

Athletics program discontinuation 2

Athletics facilities 1

Athletics schedules 1

Athletics scholarships 1

Athletic trainers 8

High-school extracurricular/drug testing 2

High-school extracurricular/home school 3

Gambling 3

Gender equity 6

Liability 1

Sports broadcasts 1

Sports officials 7

Taxes 1

Tickets 5

*Arkansas S 429 (Author: Malone)

Athlete agents. Amends existing athlete-agent law. Includes Arkansas attorneys under definition of athlete agent. Imposes third-degree felony penalties on athlete agents who conduct business without an active license issued by the secretary of state. Increases registration fee from $100 to $500. Requires the athlete agent and the student-athlete to contact the athletics department of the university within 72 hours after the signing of an athlete-agent agreement. Expands the list of prohibited acts, including limitations on athlete-agent contact with student-athletes. Permits an institution that is adversely affected by the actions or omissions of an athlete agent to seek civil damages and/or equitable relief. Requires the athlete-agent license to be displayed in each office from which the agent conducts business.

Status: 2/10/99 introduced. Referred to Senate Committee on Education.

Arizona H 2129 (Author: Brimhall)

High-school extracurricular/home-school students. Provides home-school students with the opportunity to participate in interscholastic activities at the public school in the district in which student resides. Authorizes the state board of education to adopt further participation rules for home-school students.

Status: 1/11/99 introduced. 2/10/99 passed House. Forwarded to Senate.

*California S 338 (Author: Wright C)

Athletics program discontinuation. Requires a private or public four-year institution of higher education to provide notice of a proposed discontinuation of any intercollegiate athletics team to the student body and to all persons offered admission in the academic year in which the proposed discontinuation is to occur. Provides for notice also to be published in a newspaper of general circulation serving the community in which the college or university is located.

Status: 2/9/99 introduced.

*Florida H 375 (Author: Constantine)

Taxes/exemptions for luxury boxes. Provides for a sales tax exemption for the use of skyboxes, luxury boxes or other box seats at athletics events sponsored by nonprofit organizations.

Status: 1/26/99 introduced. 2/1/99 referred to House Appropriations Committee.

Georgia H 265 (Author: Watson)

Sports officials. States that any person who commits a simple assault, simple battery or battery against a sports official during or immediately after the officiating of an amateur contest is subject to criminal misdemeanor penalties of a high and aggravated nature.

Status: 1/27/1999 introduced. 2/3/99 passed as amended by House. 2/4/99 to Senate Committee on Special Judiciary.

*Georgia H 331 (Author: Powell)

Tickets. Establishes a general prohibition for anyone other than a ticket broker to sell or resell tickets to athletics contests at a price in excess of the price printed on the ticket. Permits original purchaser to resell tickets for any price, provided the person does not sell or offer to sell more than four tickets on the property where the contest is held. Exempts charitable organizations that offer tickets of admission in a raffle, auction or similar fund-raising activity.

Status: 1/29/99 introduced. Referred to House Committee on Industry. 2/4/99 reported favorably by the House Committee on Industry.

*Georgia HR 205 (Author: Jennings)

Gender equity. Establishes February 4, 1999, as "Girls and Women in Sports Day." Provides for the recognition of outstanding high-school and college female athletes before the Georgia House of Representatives.

Status: 2/2/99 introduced. 2/4/99 passed House.

*Hawaii S 826 (Author: Buen)

Gender equity/high school. Provides for a gender-equity law to ensure that no person, on the basis of sex, shall be discriminated against in any interscholastic, club or intramural athletics offered by a public school. Establishes an advisory commission on gender equity in sports to define equity in athletics for all public schools and to recommend rules for appropriate enforcement. Imposes penalties on public schools in violation of the law that includes the loss of general funds.

Status: 1/22/99 introduced. 1/27/99 to Senate Committee on Education and Technology.

*Hawaii S 996 (Author: Chun)

Tickets. Prohibits a person from selling or reselling tickets at a price in excess of the price advertised or stated on the ticket. Imposes misdemeanor penalties on those who violate the act.

Status: 1/25/99 introduced. 2/3/99 to Senate Committee on Judiciary.

*Iowa S 87 (Author: Flynn)

High-school extracurricular/drug testing. Permits public and private schools to conduct drug or alcohol testing of students who seek to participate in extracurricular activities. Allows the board of directors of each school to determine testing procedures.

Status: 2/3/99 introduced. Referred to Senate Committee on Education.

*Iowa S 88 (Author: McCoy)

Liability/golf course. Exempts golf course operators from liability for damages resulting from an alleged failure to warn of weather-related conditions and phenomenon, such as lightning strikes. Retains operator liability for a failure to warn of any other dangerous conditions on the premises, to the extent such a duty may exist.

Status: 2/3/99 introduced. Referred to Senate Committee on Judiciary.

*Illinois H 448 (Author: Johnson T)

Sports officials. Amends statute to add the commission of battery on a sports official within an athletics facility or within the immediate vicinity of the athletics contest to the list of offenses classified as aggravated battery. Provides for Class 4 felony penalties.

Status: 2/2/99 introduced. Referred to House Committee on Rules. 2/3/99 Referred to House Committee on Judiciary II -- Criminal Law.

*Illinois H 793 (Author: O'Connor)

Internet gambling. Amends the state criminal code by adding Internet gambling to the list of prohibited gambling activities. Adds Internet and computer-related definitions. Imposes criminal misdemeanor or felony penalties on those who access the Internet to engage in an activity prohibited by the statute.

Status: 2/10/99 introduced. Referred to House Committee on Rules.

*Indiana H 1958 (Author: Friend)

Sports broadcasts. Prohibits a state educational institution from entering a contract for the radio or televised broadcast of any of its teams if the broadcast is not generally available throughout Indiana. Allows an individual resident of Indiana to file an action in court to determine if a contract violates the statute. Requires institutions in violation of the statute to pay all monetary consideration received from the contract to the auditor of state for deposit in the common school fund.

Status: 1/26/99 introduced. Referred to House Committee on Public Health.

*Kansas H 2274 (Author: Committee on Judiciary)

Sports officials. Classifies battery against a sports official during the officiating of a contest or for actions arising out of and in the course of officiating as a Class B misdemeanor. Imposes a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $2,000.

Status: 2/4/99 introduced. 2/5/99 to House Committee on Judiciary.

*Kansas H 2349 (Author: Committee on Education)

Athletics scholarships. Provides for minimum academic standards necessary for the awarding of an athletics scholarship by a state college or university. Requires student-athletes to have a minimum grade point average of 2.000 grade-point average (4.000 scale) in high school and in college. Requires students to complete a core curriculum of at least 13 academic courses in high school as required by the state or county and achieve the minimum SAT or ACT score as established by the NCAA.

Status: 2/9/99 introduced.

*Maryland S 580 (Author: Pinsky)

Athletics facilities. Permits public institutions of higher education to receive certain gifts, donations, bequests, endowments or grants from certain individuals for naming rights of an athletics facility. Requires that the facility's name does not contain any reference to or logo of a corporation or other commercial or business interest.

Status: 2/5/99 introduced. Referred to Senate Committee on Economic and Environmental Affairs.

*Massachusetts H 2665 (Author DeFillipi)

High-school extracurricular/steroids. Requires the head coach of each high-school athletics team to ensure the attendance of all prospective team members at one or more drug-education sessions. Provides for the random testing of steroids through the use of urine samples. Imposes a one-year suspension from high-school interscholastic athletics on students who test positive for the use of steroids.

Status: 1/6/99 introduced. Referred to Joint Committee on Education, Art and Humanities.

*Michigan H 4204 (Author: Gilbert)

High-school extracurricular/home-school students. Provides home-school students with the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities at the public school in the district in which student resides.

Status: 2/4/99 introduced. 2/9/99 to House Committee on Education.

*Michigan S 231 (Author: Hammerstrom)

Athletics program discontinuation. Amends state civil rights act to clarify that the statute does not authorize or require an educational institution to eliminate or reduce the number of teams or athletics scholarships in order to comply with state law.

Status: 2/3/99 introduced. Referred to Senate Committee on Education.

*Minnesota H 413 (Author: Mulder)

Athletic trainers. Amends licensing and registration requirements for athletic trainers. Changes the regulations related to the issuance of temporary permits to athletic trainers. Sets new registration fees.

Status: 2/1/99 introduced. Referred to House Committee on Health and Human Services Policy.

Nebraska L 178 (Author: Jensen)

Athletic trainers. Provides for the availability of a temporary license to practice athletic training as an athletic trainer. Amends definitions relating to athletic trainers.

Status: 1/8/99 introduced. 1/12/99 referred to Legislative Committee on Health and Human Services. 1/26/99 Committee adopts amendment on legislative floor.

*Nevada A 63/ A 153 (Author: Anderson/de Braga)

Sports officials. Excludes certain sports officials from the payment of unemployment and workers' compensation as well as participation in the public employees' retirement system. Defines a sports official, for purposes of this act, as a person who officiates amateur athletics contests for a nominal fee.

Status: A 63: 2/1/99 introduced. Referred to Assembly Committee on Commerce and Labor. A 153: 2/9/99 introduced.

*New Hampshire H 352 (Author: Rubin)

Athletic/sports trainers. Includes persons practicing as "sports trainers" in the regulation of athletic trainers.

Status: 1/28/99 introduced. Referred to House Committee on Executive Departments and Administration.

*New Mexico S 331 (Author: Robinson)

Gender equity. Appropriates $820,000 for seven New Mexico institutions for the purpose of increasing women's sports activities in order to comply with the provisions of Title IX.

Status: 2/1/99 introduced. Referred to Senate Committee on Education and Senate Committee on Finance.

*New York A 3236/S 1237 (Authors: Bragman/DeFrancisco)

Athlete agents. Provides for the regulation and registration of athlete agents. Requires biannual registration with the secretary of state. Permits the secretary of state to set reasonable application and registration fees. Establishes a surety bond requirement of $100,000. Requires the filing of an agent contract with a student-athlete's institution within one business day of execution or before the student-athlete practices for or participates in any contest, whichever comes first. Lists a number of prohibited athlete-agent activities. Provides for civil penalties against an athlete agent not to exceed $25,000. Imposes criminal misdemeanor and/or felony penalties against an athlete agent who violates certain provision of the act. Permits an institution of higher education or a student-athlete that is adversely affected by the activities of an athlete agent to pursue an action for equitable relief and/or damages.

Status: S 1237: 1/19/99 introduced. Referred to Senate Committee on Consumer Protection. A 3236: 1/28/99 introduced. Referred to Assembly Committee on Economic Development, Job Creation, Commerce and Industry.

*New York A 4075 (Author: Hoyt)

Tickets. Limits fees that sellers, resellers and ticket brokers of entertainment and sporting events may charge. Requires the disclosure of service charges or additional ticket fees. Provides for the disclosure of obstructed view or unassigned seating. Requires a seller of tickets to make available, in at least one location, tickets without additional service charges. Establishes refund policies.

Status: 2/8/99 introduced. Referred to Assembly Committee on Ways and Means.

*New York S 1553 (Author: Kuhl)

High-school extracurricular/home-school students. Provides a home-school student, upon the request of a parent or guardian, with the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities, including interscholastic athletics, within the school district he or she resides.

Status: 1/26/99 introduced. Referred to Senate Committee on Education.

*New York S 2044 (Author: Larkin)

Internet gambling. Requires foreign corporations that provide gambling or wagering over the Internet to obtain authorization to do business in the state.

Status: 2/2/99 introduced. Referred to Senate Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions.

*Ohio H 107 (Author: Tiberi)

Athlete agents. Amends existing law to provide for the registration and further regulation of athlete agents. Creates additional requirements and duties for members of the Ohio Athletic Commission as it relates to athlete agents. Authorizes Commission to administer the provisions governing athlete agents. Provides the Commission with the authority to establish continuing-education requirements focusing on ethical conduct for athlete agents. Revises definitions in athlete-agent chapter of the state code. Provides specific guidelines regulating the form and content of the agent contract. Requires athlete agents to provide written notice to the educational institution after an agent contract is signed. Establishes biennial athlete-agent registration. Authorizes Commission to determine surety bond amount. Sets guidelines related to fees charged by athlete agents. Lists prohibited acts, including limitations on athlete-agent contact with student-athletes. Provides for a person or an institution of higher education to bring a civil action against an athlete agent who knowingly violates the act.

Status: 1/28/99 introduced. Referred to House Committee on Rules and Reference. 2/2/99 referred to House Committee on Commerce and Labor.

*Ohio HCR 7 (Author: Jordan)

Gender equity. Urges the U.S. Congress to amend Title IX to ensure that no federally funded educational institution is financially sanctioned if it retains men's athletics programs despite the conflict such retention creates with certain federal guidelines established pursuant to Title IX.

Status: 2/2/99 introduced. Referred to House Committee on Rules and Reference. Additionally referred to House Committee on Education.

*Ohio S 52 (Author Carnes)

Tickets. Permits a township to regulate, by license or otherwise, the resale of tickets to theatrical, sporting or other public amusements.

Status: 2/4/99 introduced. Referred to Senate Committee on Reference. 2/10/99 referred to Senate Committee on State and Local Government and Local Affairs.

*Oregon S 455 (Author: Committee on Business)

Sports gambling. Eliminates the statutory authority of the Oregon State Lottery Commission to operate sports-related electronic lottery games. Changes source of Sports Lottery Account from proceeds of sports lottery games to a percentage of net proceeds from video lottery games.

Status: 2/4/99 introduced. 2/5/99 referred to Senate Committee on Trade and Economic Development.

*Oregon S 482 (Author: Trow)

Sports officials. Establishes crime of assaulting a sports official punishable by a maximum of five years imprisonment, $100,000, or both.

Status: 2/5/99 introduced. 2/8/99 referred to Senate Committee on Judiciary.

*Rhode Island H 5900 (Author: Hensler)

Athletic trainers. Amends the definition of athletic trainer by removing the restriction that an athletic trainer treat only those athletes participating in the athletics programs of an educational institution.

Status: 2/2/99 introduced. Referred to House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare.

*Rhode Island H 6026

Athlete agents. Authorizes the department of business to promulgate rules and regulations governing the occupation of athlete agents.

Status: 2/2/99 introduced. Referred to House Committee on Corporations.

*South Carolina H 3439 (Author: Altman)

Athletics schedules. Requires the annual football game between Clemson University and the University of South Carolina, Columbia, to occur each year on Thanksgiving Day and be called The South Carolina Thanksgiving Bowl.

Status: 2/3/99 introduced. Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means.

*Tennessee H 466 (Author: Hargett)

Tickets. Prohibits ticket scalping to entertainment events, including sports. Establishes a Class A misdemeanor penalty punishable by a fine not to exceed $5,000.

Status: 2/10/99 introduced.

*Tennessee S 515 (Author: Cohen)

Athlete agents. Amends existing athlete agent law by exempting Tennessee licensed attorneys from the statute's registration provisions.

Status: 2/11/99 introduced. Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Labor and Agriculture.

*Texas H 1131 (Author: Hinojosa)

Gender equity. Imposes a fee of $1 to be added to the admission charge for any intercollegiate athletics event held on the campus of an institution of higher education within the Texas system. Requires the funds collected be used to support women's athletics at institutions within the system. Provides for the funds to be distributed in proportion to the number of women competing in intercollegiate athletics at each of those institutions. Prohibits an institution from reducing the amount of other funds spent to support women's intercollegiate athletics as a result of the institution's receipt of money under this act.

Status: 2/2/99 introduced.

Virginia H 2367/ H 2547/ S 1191 (Authors: Rust/Crittenden/Houck)

Athletic trainers. Requires athletic trainers to be certified by the Board of Medicine. Authorizes the Board to establish criteria for certification. Creates an Advisory Board of Athletic Training to assist the Board of Medicine in formulating its requirements for the certification of athletic trainers and developing standards of professional conduct.

Status: H 2367/H 2547: 1/21/99 introduced. 2/5/99 passed House. 2/10/99 to Senate Committee on General Laws. S 1191: 1/21/99 introduced. 2/8/99 passed Senate. 2/10/99 referred to House Committee on General Laws.

*Washington H 1096 (Author: Cairnes)

Sports officials. Makes assault of a school official or sports official an aggravating factor for sentencing.

Status: 1/14/99 introduced. 1/27/99 reported favorably by House Committee on Criminal Justice and Corrections. 2/9/99 reported favorably by House Committee on Rules.

*Washington S 5596 (Author: Thibaudeau)

Athletic trainers. Regulates the practice of athletic training. Requires certification from the secretary of health. Establishes the requirements necessary for certification, including the successful completion of an approved examination. Authorizes the secretary to establish standards and procedures for approval of educational programs in athletic training. Provides for the secretary to establish credentialing, examination and renewal fees.

Status: 1/27/99 introduced. Referred to Senate Committee on Health and Long-term Care.

*Washington SR 8616.

Gender equity. Establishes February 4, 1999, as "Girls and Women in Sports Day."

Status: 2/3/99 introduced. 2/5/99 passed Senate.