Bill seeking to block college athletes from employee status advances to House of Representatives

After years of extensive lobbying efforts by the NCAA and its stakeholders on Capitol Hill, a bill focused on the future of college athletics has finally advanced to the House of Representatives.

The House Committee on Education and the Work Force voted Thursday to advance H.R. 8534 — dubbed the “Protecting Student Athlete’s Economic Freedom Act.” The Republican-sponsored bill seeks to exempt college athletes from employee status, which has long been a pillar of the NCAA’s mission and has become a frequent target of legal challenges in recent years. The NCAA’s push for legislation that prevents an employment model in college sports has intensified in the wake of the recently proposed settlement to the House v. NCAA lawsuit, which would settle multiple high-profile antitrust cases against the NCAA and its power conferences.

Members of the House committee voted 23-16 to advance the bill along straight party lines, with Republicans in support and Democrats against. The bill now gets sent to the full, Republican-controlled House of Representatives; if it passes there, it would go to the Democrat-controlled Senate, and then to the President, meaning the bill still faces many hurdles before it becomes a law. Considering the narrow focus of the bill and its lack of bi-partisan support in committee, it would likely need to be attached to broader legislation — known as a “rider” — in order to pass the Senate.

“The NCAA is making changes to provide student-athletes with enhanced guaranteed health, wellness and academic benefits and the association is proud to stand with student-athlete leadership from all three divisions in support of this legislation,” NCAA senior vice president of external affairs Tim Buckley said via statement on Thursday. “College sports are the premier stage for women’s sports, essential to building our country’s Olympic team and provide unmatched educational opportunities to more than 500,000 young people across three divisions and 24 sports every year. Building on the proposed settlement, by partnering with Congress to affirm that student-athletes are not employees, we can continue our progress in building a model for college sports that provides fair opportunities and experiences to the broadest number of young people possible.”

Rep. Lori Trahan, a Democratic congresswoman from Massachusetts and former Division I volleyball player, voiced her disagreements with the bill on Thursday.

“Once again, Republicans in Congress have decided to plow forward with legislation to limit the rights of college athletes with little to no input from athletes themselves,” Trahan said in a statement. “It’s disappointing that GOP members of the Education and Workforce Committee are choosing to advance a bill targeting a hypothetical issue over the very real challenges currently facing athletes, including Title IX loopholes that hurt women and international athletes not having NIL rights.

“If House Republicans decide to force a vote on this partisan legislation on the floor, I will vote no, and I will continue to encourage my Democratic colleagues to do the same.”

The bill is being debated amid legal battles over college-athlete employment, including complaints filed to the National Labor Relations Board and the Johnson v. NCAA lawsuit in Pennsylvania.

Paul McDonald, one of the lead plaintiff attorneys in the Johnson case, sent a letter to committee members earlier this week arguing the bill is unconstitutional.

“Denying College Athletes the same employee status, rights, and hourly pay as fellow students in Work Study-style programs violates Equal Protection,” McDonald said in a follow-up statement on Thursday.  “If enacted, HR 8534 would never survive judicial challenge. To wit, it is a waste of time. Dilatory tactics have consequences. The only thing accomplished by the NCAA in needlessly dragging out the recognition of College Athletes as hourly employees like their fellow students is to significantly increase the cost of resolution borne by its membership.”