House committee advances college athlete recruitment bill

A congressional committee voted Thursday to move forward with a bill that would bar college athletes from being considered employees of their schools, conferences or the NCAA.

The vote by the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce represents the first clear sign of progress in a years-long effort for federal legislation to help the college sports industry rebuild college sports. It comes weeks after the NCAA and its power conferences announced they 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 he announced the no-confidence resolution, is in the early legislative stages. If passed, it could face opposition from Democrats in the Senate as well as legal challenges.

The NCAA is currently a defendant in several ongoing court cases that argue that college athletes should be given employee rights. A lawsuit in federal court — Johnson v. NCAA — is seeking minimum wage and other workplace protections for college athletes. Two other active cases before the National Labor Relations Board seek to give 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 it is approved by a judge, would provide the framework for a college sports model that allows schools to compensate their athletes without turning them into employees. Baker said he doesn’t believe most college athletes want to be considered employees.

“I’ve had a lot of conversations with people in Congress: ‘The reason we’re interested in jobs is the compensation question,'” Baker said earlier this week. “If the court blesses (the antitrust settlement), it puts us in a position where we can go to Congress and say that one of the three branches of the federal government has blessed this as a model for creating compensation without triggering employment.”

The NCAA and power conferences have lobbied Congress for laws that would limit their legal liability and prevent athletes from becoming employees for the past several years. College sports leaders say these laws are necessary to preserve the many teams and athletic departments that cannot afford to pay their athletes the same salaries as employees. Both the NCAA and power conferences have publicly expressed their support for the goods bill.

The bill is intended to be a narrow piece of a larger package of federal legislation that guarantees more benefits for athletes in the future and prevents them from becoming employees. However, no partner bill guaranteeing benefits to athletes has yet been introduced.

The Workforce and Education Committee voted 23-16 to move forward with the bill. 23 votes in favor came from Republicans. All 16 votes against came from Democrats. The debate over whether Congress should weigh in on the college sports business model has been a partisan debate for the past few years.

House and Senate Democrats previously co-sponsored bills that would have the exact opposite effect of the goods bill — codifying the right of college athletes to unionize. Those lawmakers and other advocates say athletes need collective bargaining power to negotiate for items like better medical care and a fair share of the money they make for the multibillion-dollar industry.

Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) — a former college volleyball player who has been an active participant in the Capitol Hill debate over the future of college sports — said she will vote against the goods bill if it reaches the House floor.

“Once again, Republicans in Congress have decided to move forward with legislation to limit the rights of college athletes with little or no input from the athletes,” Trahan said in a statement after Thursday’s vote.

If passed, the Goods bill would stop ongoing efforts to make athletes employees in the NLRB and Johnson v. NCAA cases. Paul McDonald, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the Johnson case, said he believes the bill as written would violate the federal Equal Protection Act. McDonald said it is against the law to bar some college students from becoming employees while allowing others in that category — such as cafeteria workers or teaching assistants — to earn wages and unionize.

“If enacted, (the bill) will never survive a judicial challenge. To wit, it’s a waste of time,” McDonald said in a statement to ESPN after Thursday’s vote. “The scattershot strategy has consequences. The only thing the NCAA’s unnecessary withdrawal of recognition of college athletes as hourly employees like their fellow students would do is significantly increase the costs of resolution borne by its membership.”

In a news release issued before Thursday’s vote, Goode said his bill was aimed at ensuring that the tradition of college sports “is not destroyed by reclassifying student athletes as employees.”

“My legislation will help maintain a balance between athletics and academics, ensuring that college sports programs remain effective, beneficial and enjoyable for all student athletes,” he said.