This report summarizes legislation currently pending before state legislatures that could affect or is of interest to staff members of intercollegiate athletics programs and student-athletes. Set forth below is a list of 19 bills from 10 states. The report includes eight bills that have been recently introduced and 11 pending bills where legislative action has occurred since the publication of the March 27, 2000, 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 28, 2000. 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. 7

Athletics facilities. .1

Athletic trainers. 4

Gambling. 2

Gender equity 1

Sports officials.. 3

Tickets .1

Three bills have become law since the last report. In Alabama, a joint resolution was adopted that urges the attorney general, the district attorney of Lee County, Alabama, and the Alabama Athlete-Agent Regulatory Commission to conduct a full investigation into the matter involving Chris Porter of Auburn University in order to determine whether evidence exists that a sports agent or his representative violated the state's athlete-agent law. In Indiana, legislation was passed that addresses athletic trainer regulations. In Utah, a bill was enacted that amends the state's existing athletic trainers statute.

*Alabama HJR 257 (Author: Allen)

Athlete agents. Urges Roy Kramer, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, to encourage other states to enact legislation to provide stricter regulation of athlete agents.

Status: 3/23/2000 introduced. Referred to House Committee on Rules.

*Alabama HJR 258 (Author: Allen)

Gambling. Encourages Congress to enact legislation banning gambling on high-school, collegiate and Olympic sports events.

Status: 3/23/2000 introduced. Referred to House Committee on Rules.

Alabama SJR 55 (Author: Little)

Athlete agents. Commends Auburn University basketball player Chris Porter for his admission related to the receipt of money from a representative of a sports agent. Urges the Alabama attorney general; the district attorney of Lee County, Alabama; and the Alabama Athlete-Agent Regulatory Commission to conduct a full investigation into the matter in order to determine whether evidence exists that a sports agent or his representative violated the state's athlete-agent law. Encourages Auburn to continue its investigation and determine whether to file a civil action against the sports agent and/or his representative, pursuant to the state athlete-agent law.

Status: 3/2/2000 introduced. Passed Senate. 3/8/2000 passed House. 3/15/2000 signed by governor.

Arizona H 2485 (Author: Leff)

Tickets. Prohibits a person from forging or altering a ticket, with the intent to defraud, to any sports, amusement or concert event. Imposes criminal class I misdemeanor penalties on violators.

Status: 1/11/2000 introduced. 2/23/2000 passed House. 3/22/2000 passed Senate.

Arizona S 1202 (Author: Wettaw)

Athletic trainers. Appropriates $60,000 for the establishment of the Board of Athletic Trainers to oversee, evaluate and license athletic trainers. Requires athletic trainers to work under the direction of a licensed physician. Sets requirements for licensure and the use of professional titles. Lists grounds for disciplinary action and establishes penalties. Provides the public with the right to access information related to an athletic trainer's professional background and practice.

Status: 1/12/2000 introduced. 2/28/2000 passed as amended by Senate. 3/23/2000 passed as amended by House. Referred to Senate for concurrence.

*Arizona S 1546 (Author: Bowers)

Sports officials. Expands the classification of assault to include any person who intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes physical injury to a sports official engaged in duty at an amateur or professional athletics event. Classifies assault of sports official as a class one misdemeanor.

Status: 1/31/2000 introduced. 2/23/2000 passed Senate. 3/21/2000 passed as amended by House. 3/23/2000 referred to Senate for concurrence.

*Delaware H 501 (Author: Reynolds)

Sports officials. Establishes the crime of abuse of a sports official. Gives greater protection to sports officials who have been harassed, threatened, menaced or assaulted. Identifies certain types of prohibited acts against sports officials. Vests original jurisdiction of these offenses in Court of Common Please. Enables the Department of Justice and the courts to appropriately track repeat offenders.

Status: 3/21/2000 introduced. Referred to House Committee on Judiciary.

*Florida H 1987 (Author: Barreiro G)

Athletics facilities. Allows any public athletics facility at which a collegiate athletics team is based to retain certain proceeds of the tax on sales, use and other transactions and to use those proceeds for the purpose of renovating and modernizing the facility.

Status: 3/15/2000 introduced.

Florida H 4005 (Author: Committee on Rules)

Athlete agents. Repeals savings clause in athlete-agent law that provides a license to athlete agents registered on October 1, 1995.

Status: 3/7/2000 introduced. 3/22/2000 passed as amended by House.

*Florida S 2298 (Author: Sebesta)

Sports officials/workers' compensation. Excludes from the definition of "employee," for purposes of workers' compensation, independent contractors who are sports officials for an entity sponsoring an intercollegiate sports event or for a public entity or private, nonprofit organization that sponsors an amateur sports event.

Status: 3/7/2000 introduced. 3/13/2000 referred to Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance.

*Florida S 2468 (Author: King)

Athlete agents. Amends existing athlete-agent law. Establishes second-degree felony offense for an athlete agent who provides an illegal inducement to a student-athlete. Allows a university to seek treble damages from an agent under certain circumstances.

Status: 3/7/2000 introduced. 3/20/2000 referred to Senate Committee on Judiciary.

Georgia H 1323 (Author: Hugley)

Athlete agents. Amends existing athlete-agent statute. Provides for additional grounds for refusing to register or for disciplining an athlete agent. Prohibits contact with the student-athlete before the completion of the athlete's last intercollegiate contest unless the contact is initiated by the student-athlete or his or her parent or guardian. Requires an athlete agent to send a copy of any written materials intended for a student-athlete to the athletics director of the institution of higher education in which the athlete is enrolled. Provides for the inclusion of language in agent contracts that warns the student-athlete of the loss of athletics eligibility and alerts the student-athlete of his or her right to cancel the contract. Permits the student-athlete's institution to bring a civil action against an athlete agent for recovery of damages, under certain circumstances.

Status: 2/3/2000 introduced. 2/16/2000 passed as amended by House. 3/14/2000 passed Senate.

Indiana S 401 (Author: Server)

Athletic trainers. Removes the athletic trainer residency requirement. Exempts certain nonresident athletic trainers from licensure. Provides an exemption for student or intern trainers. Prohibits a person who is not a licensed athletic trainer from practicing athletic training or using certain terms to indicate the person is an athletic trainer. Permits the use of the title "student athletic trainer" by a student enrolled in high school or an institution of higher education while assisting an athletic trainer during school athletics activities. Establishes that a person who knowingly violates the athletic trainer statute commits a class B misdemeanor.

Status: 1/10/2000 introduced. 2/7/2000 passed as amended by Senate. 2/23/2000 passed House. 3/15/2000 signed by governor.

Oklahoma S 1214 (Author: Morgan)

Gender equity/tickets. Exempts admission tickets to events of the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education from sales tax. Requires that an amount equivalent to the sales tax be collected and used for the purposes of promoting gender equity pursuant to the provisions of Title IX.

Status: 2/7/2000 introduced. 3/13/2000 passed as amended by Senate. 3/15/2000 referred to House Committee on Revenue and Taxation.

Rhode Island S 2530 (Author: Bates)

Athletic trainers. Amends the provisions regarding the clinical experience required to obtain an athletic trainer license. Requires clinical experience in accordance with national standards and as approved by the director.

Status: 2/9/2000 introduced. 3/14/2000 passed Senate. Referred to House Committee on Corporations.

Rhode Island S 2713 (Author: Coderre)

*Rhode Island H 8011 (Author: Carter)

Athlete agents. Provides for a new law regulating athlete agents. Requires annual registration with the office of higher education. Exempts a licensed attorney in the state from registering under the act. Sets professional liability insurance requirement of no less than $1 million. Establishes that a copy of the agent contract must be filed with the athletics director at the student-athlete's institution before the contract is signed by the student-athlete. Limits agent contact only with student-athletes who have completed their collegiate eligibility. Allows agents to provide information to eligible student-athletes only after having provided the same information to the athletics director at the student-athlete's institution. Provides a list of prohibited acts. Permits the student-athlete's institution to bring a civil action against an athlete agent for damages. Allows for the assessment of a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 against an agent who violates the act. Imposes criminal misdemeanor penalties of imprisonment for not more than one year or a fine of not more than $500, or both.

Status: H 8011: 3/8/2000 introduced. Referred to House Committee on Corporations. S 2713: 2/10/2000 introduced. 3/14/2000 passed Senate. Referred to House Committee on Corporations.

Utah S 113 (Author: Valentine)

Athletic trainers. Amends statute to include certain athletic trainers in the category of persons who may engage in their profession without a license. Specifies that in order for an athletic trainer to qualify for this exemption he or she must: (1) be certified by the National Athletic Trainers' Association; (2) be employed with an educational institution, a professional sports organization, or an amateur sports organization; and (3) provide athletic training to athletes of the educational institution or sports organization to which the person is employed and such services are within the scope of the individual's certification.

Status: 01/18/2000 introduced. 02/01/2000 passed as amended by Senate. 2/17/2000 passed House. 3/13/2000 signed by governor.

Wisconsin S 100 (Author: George)

Gambling. Amends the statute regarding penalties for office sports pool betting. Reduces penalty to a simple gambling criminal offense for conducting five or fewer office sports betting pools during the preceding 12 months.

Status: 3/25/99 introduced. Referred to Senate Committee on Judiciary and Consumer Affairs. 3/14/
2000 passed as amended by Senate.