The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- March 29, 1999

State legislation relating to intercollegiate athletics

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 22 bills from 14 states. The report includes 15 bills that have been recently introduced and seven pending bills where legislative action has occurred since the publication of the March 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 March 9, 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

Academic standards --1

Athlete agents --1

Athletics facilities --3

Athletics scholarships --2

Gambling --4

High-school extracurricular/drug testing --1

High-school extracurricular/home school --4

Scheduling of athletics contests --1

Sports officials --1

Taxes --2

Tickets --2

The legislatures in four states (South Dakota, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming) have adjourned for the year. Forty-four state legislatures remain in session. One state legislature (Louisiana) has yet to begin its legislative session, while another state legislature (Kentucky) will not meet until 2000.

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 participation rules for home-school students.

Status: 1/11/99 introduced. 2/10/99 passed House. 3/4/99 passed as amended by Senate Committee on Education.

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. 3/3/99 passed as amended by Senate Committee on Education.

Florida H 375 (Author: Constantine)

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

Status: 3/2/99 introduced. Referred to House Committee on Finance and Taxation.

*Florida S 1988 (Author: Sullivan)

Scheduling of athletics contests. Directs the University of Miami (Florida), University of South Florida, Florida State University and the University of Florida to develop and participate in an annual men's collegiate basketball tournament. Authorizes the legislature to examine the feasibility of withholding discretionary funding from each of the four universities if the tournament is not developed and an agreement to participate reached by July 1, 2000.

Status: 3/2/99 introduced.

*Georgia H 807 (Author: Franklin)

Athletics facilities/golf courses. Promotes private industry ownership and operation of golf courses. Requires state-owned golf courses, including golf courses owned by state universities, to be sold to the highest bidder by July 1, 2001. Exempts certain state authorities from the sales provision but requires these authorities to enter into private management contracts for the operation of their golf courses.

Status: 3/1/99 introduced. Referred to House Committee on State Institutions and Property.

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. 3/4/99 passed House Committee on Judiciary II -- Criminal Law.

Illinois S 4 (Author: Klem)

Internet gambling. Amends the Criminal Code of 1961 to add Internet gambling to the list of prohibited gambling activities. Imposes misdemeanor or felony criminal penalties on those who participate in Internet gambling.

Status: 1/14/99 introduced. 2/26/99 passed as amended by Senate.

*Iowa H 499 (Author: Committee on Judiciary)

High-school extracurricular/drug testing. Permits drug and alcohol testing of middle and high-school students who seek to participate in school-sponsored extracurricular activities if certain additional requirements are met.

Status: 3/3/99 introduced.

*Minnesota H 1129/S 1518 (Authors: Carruthers/Scheid)

High-school extracurricular/home-school students. Defines home-school instruction for purposes of extracurricular activities. Requires school boards to allow all students, including those receiving home-school instruction, to participate fully in extracurricular activities.

Status: H 1129: 2/25/99 introduced. Referred to House Committee on Education Policy. S 1518: 3/8/99 introduced. Referred to Senate Committee on Children, Families and Learning.

*Minnesota H 1124/S 1117 (Authors: Smith/Olson)

Athletics facilities/bleacher safety. Establishes safety requirements for bleachers in all places of public accommodation. Authorizes the commissioner of administration to shut down places of accommodation not in compliance with the safety requirements. Prohibits any individual or corporation from manufacturing, selling or distributing bleachers not in compliance with the regulations. Appropriates an unspecified amount from the general fund for the purpose of providing grants to municipalities and school districts to assist in complying with the bleacher safety requirements.

Status: H 1124: 3/8/99 referred to House Committee on Commerce. S 1117: 2/25/99 introduced. Referred to Senate Committee on Governmental Operations and Veterans.

*New Jersey A 2906 (Author Luongo)

Taxes/student employment. Directs the New Jersey Department of the Treasury to modify the Social Security coverage agreement between the state and the federal government to exclude from coverage under the Social Security Act employment services performed by students attending public schools, colleges and universities.

Status: 3/4/99 introduced. Referred to Assembly Committee on Appropriations.

New Mexico H 620 (Author: Miera)

Tickets. Amends statute to expand prohibition of ticket scalping from college athletics events to all events.

Status: 2/11/99 introduced. 3/5/99 passed House. Referred to Senate Committee on Judiciary.

*New York A 5646 (Author: Gromack)

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

Status: 3/1/99 introduced. Referred to Assembly Committee on Racing and Wagering.

*New York A 6329/S 3254 (Authors: Eve/LaValle)

Athletics scholarships. Requires secondary school personnel to notify the Commissioner of Education of any student who will be attending an institution of higher education on an athletics scholarship. Authorizes the Commissioner to contact institutions of higher education to request information related to such student's academic progress.

Status: A 6329: 3/2/99 introduced. Referred to Assembly Committee on Education. S 3254: 3/2/99 introduced. Referred to Senate Committee on Higher Education.

*Ohio S 90 (Author Schafrath)

Sports officials. Adds the assault of a sports official to the list of assault offenses classified as a felony of the fifth degree.

Status: 3/4/99 introduced. Referred to Senate Committee on Reference.

*Pennsylvania S 441 (Author: Murphy)

Internet gambling advertising. Creates requirements aimed at protecting youth from being exposed to unsolicited gambling advertisements. Requires any person transmitting unsolicited gambling advertisements over the Internet to include the term "ADV-GMBL" at the beginning of the subject line of the electronic communication. Imposes a misdemeanor of the first-degree penalty on anyone who violates the act.

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

*Texas H 1902 (Author: Wilson)

Academic standards. Prohibits a public institution of higher education from establishing a minimum score on a standardized test as a condition to admission of an undergraduate student. Allows the use of a standardized test in admissions decisions only when it is used as one of various indicators of academic ability.

Status: 2/26/99 introduced. 3/2/99 referred to House Committee on Higher Education.

*West Virginia H 2894 (Author: Trump)

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

Status: 2/24/99 introduced. Referred to House Committee on Education.

West Virginia S 641 (Author: McCabe)

Tickets. Prohibits a person from selling or reselling tickets at a price in excess of the price advertised, stated on the ticket, or the price fixed for admission, including tax and a reasonable service charge. Adds ticket scalping to the list of unfair or deceptive acts or practices subject to state consumer protection laws. Imposes misdemeanor penalties on first- and second-time offenders. Imposes felony penalties for subsequent violations.

Status: 2/22/99 introduced. 3/4/99 passed as amended by Senate. Referred to House Committee on Judiciary.