Current:Home > InvestCalifornia bill mandating college athletes' welfare withdrawn before vote-InfoLens
California bill mandating college athletes' welfare withdrawn before vote
View Date:2024-12-23 15:48:05
A bill in the California legislature that would have created wide-ranging changes aimed at mandating and regulating college athletes’ health and welfare was withdrawn by its sponsor Wednesday, the day it was scheduled for a hearing and vote by a state Senate committee.
Because of the legislature’s calendar and legislative deadlines, the action effectively kills the bill for the remainder of a two-year session that finishes at the end of August. In addition, the bill’s sponsor, Assemblyman Chris Holden, D, will reach the state-mandated 12-year limit on lifetime service in the legislature this year.
An even more expansive version of the bill, which included a provision calling for college athletes in the state to receive payments from their schools based on their respective team revenue, schools narrowly passed the Assembly last June. Since then, Holden had dropped a number of elements of that version, including the revenue-sharing component. He announced that adjustment in the wake of the proposed settlement of three college-athlete compensation antitrust suits that would include a $2.8 billion damages pool and give schools the opportunity to pay athletes.
Holden’s chief of staff, Willie Armstrong, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening. Ramogi Huma, the executive director of a California-based national college-athlete advocacy group that had been working with Holden on the bill, said in an interview that Holden withdrew the bill after Senate Education Committee chair Josh Newman, D, recommended that the committee reject the measure.
Newman’s communications director, Brian Wheatley, declined to comment on Newman’s position on the bill. He said any recommendation from Newman “is just that.” The committee members are “free to vote how ever they want,” Wheatley said. Wheatley added that “the decision to pull the bill comes from the author’s office.”
“It was surprising that (Newman) recommended a ‘No’ vote,” Huma said. “We were close, but it wasn’t in the cards today. We’ve had bills die in the past. We’ll keep going at it.”
In 2019, California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom, D, handed athlete advocates one of their most significant legislative victories when they enacted the first law that allowed college athletes to make money from activities connected to their name, image and likeness. This happened at a time when NCAA rules largely prohibited such activity. And it happened under the threat that schools in California would not be allowed to play in NCAA championships and could have trouble scheduling games.
However, instead of isolating California, the law emboldened other states to pass similar laws, in part for competitive reasons.
The NCAA, which had forcefully and publicly opposed Holden’s bill — beginning well before the Assembly floor vote — said it was pleased by Wednesday’s outcome.
“The NCAA and member schools have been working hard to educate lawmakers in California and across the country about the positive changes taking place at the association to address the needs of modern student-athletes,” NCAA senior vice president of external affairs, Tim Buckley, wrote in a text message. “Those changes combined with the landmark settlement proposal is making clear that state by state legislation would be detrimental to college sports, and that many past legislative proposals will create more challenges than they solve.
“Instead the NCAA and member schools are eager to partner with Congress to use the settlement proposal as a roadmap to address specific challenges to ensure college sports will continue to deliver life-changing educational opportunities for millions of young people for generations to come.”
veryGood! (3435)
Related
- NASCAR Cup Series Championship race 2024: Start time, TV, live stream, odds, lineup
- Miami Dolphins sign Justin Houston and Bruce Irvin, adding depth to injured linebacker group
- A dinghy carrying migrants hit rocks in Greece, killing 2 people in high winds
- Product recall: Over 80,000 Homedics personal massagers recalled over burn and fire risk
- Wildfire map: Thousands of acres burn near New Jersey-New York border; 1 firefighter dead
- A judge has found Ohio’s new election law constitutional, including a strict photo ID requirement
- Special counsel Jack Smith and Judge Tanya Chutkan, key figures in Trump 2020 election case, are latest victims of apparent swatting attempts
- Astrobotic says its Peregrine lunar lander won't make planned soft landing on the moon due to propellant leak
- Here's Your First Look at The White Lotus Season 3 With Blackpink’s Lisa and More Stars
- Republicans are taking the first step toward holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress
Ranking
- Lions QB Jared Goff, despite 5 interceptions, dared to become cold-blooded
- In $25M settlement, North Carolina city `deeply remorseful’ for man’s wrongful conviction, prison
- DeSantis and Haley go head to head: How to watch the fifth Republican presidential debate
- Florida mom of 10 year old who shot, killed neighbor to stand trial for manslaughter
- Some women are stockpiling Plan B and abortion pills. Here's what experts have to say.
- U.S. cut climate pollution in 2023, but not fast enough to limit global warming
- Joey Fatone, AJ McLean promise joint tour will show 'magic of *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys'
- Olympic skater under investigation for alleged sexual assault missing Canadian nationals
Recommendation
-
Gavin Rossdale Makes Rare Public Appearance With Girlfriend Xhoana Xheneti
-
Starting his final year in office, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee stresses he isn’t finished yet
-
SAG Awards 2024: The Nominations Are Finally Here
-
An Oregon judge enters the final order striking down a voter-approved gun control law
-
Gun groups sue to overturn Maine’s new three-day waiting period to buy firearms
-
A teen on the Alaska Airlines flight had his shirt ripped off when the door plug blew. A stranger tried to help calm him down.
-
Miami Dolphins sign Justin Houston and Bruce Irvin, adding depth to injured linebacker group
-
Kate Middleton's Pre-Royal Style Resurfaces on TikTok: From Glitzy Halter Tops to Short Dresses
Like
- 2 more escaped monkeys recaptured and enjoying peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in South Carolina
- RFK Jr. backs out of his own birthday fundraiser gala after Martin Sheen, Mike Tyson said they're not attending
- Apple is sending out payments to iPhone owners impacted by batterygate. Here's what they are getting.