BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 735
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Date of Hearing: January 12, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Jose Medina, Chair
AB 735
(Ridley-Thomas) - As Amended January 4, 2016
[Note: This bill is doubled referred to the Assembly Arts,
Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media Committee and
was heard on January 5, 2016, in said Committee, as it relates
to issues under its jurisdiction.]
SUBJECT: Postsecondary education: Student Athlete Bill of
Rights
SUMMARY: Eliminates the sunset of the Student Athlete Bill of
Rights.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Prohibits any person from giving, offering, promising or
attempting to give money or other item of value to a student
athlete or member of the athlete's immediate family to induce,
encourage or reward a student athlete's application,
enrollment or attendance at a public or private institution of
higher education (IHE) to participate in intercollegiate
sporting activities. Some exceptions may be granted in
accordance with National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA) rules. A person who violates these rules is subject to
a civil penalty of up to $10,000, or three times the amount
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given, offered or promised, whichever is greater (Education
Code Section 67360).
2)Prohibits student athletes and members of their immediate
family from soliciting or accepting money or other item of
value as an inducement, encouragement or reward, subject to
the same exceptions and penalty listed above (EC Section
67361).
3)Requires California postsecondary educational institutions
that offer athletic scholarships to provide specific
information on its website, such as NCAA policy on scholarship
duration, the most recent cost of attendance, and their policy
on athletically related medical expenses (EC Section 67365).
4)Defines the following: "athletic association" to mean any
organization that is responsible for governing intercollegiate
athletic programs; "athletic program" to mean an
intercollegiate athletic program at any IHE; "graduation
success rate" to mean the percentage of student athletes who
graduate from that IHE within six years of their initial
enrollment, excluding outgoing transfers in good academic
standing with athletic eligibility remaining, and including
incoming transfers. The rate is to be calculated by combining
the rates of the four most recent classes that are available
in the exact manner as the rate is calculated under NCAA
rules; "IHE" to mean any campus of the University of
California or the California State University, or any
four-year private university located in California, that
maintains an intercollegiate athletic program; "media rights"
means the rights to media coverage of intercollegiate
athletics included in contracts that are entered into by
intercollegiate athletic conferences and television networks
and that generate monetary payments to individual IHEs; and,
"student athlete" to mean any college student who participates
in an intercollegiate athletic program of an IHE, and includes
student athletes who participate in basketball, football, and
other intercollegiate sports (EC Section 67451).
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5)Specifies the following: a) unless a student athlete declines
the payment of premiums, an athletic program shall be
responsible for paying the premiums of each of its student
athletes whose household has an income and asset level that
does not exceed the level for Cal Grant A recipients set forth
in EC Section 69432.7 for insurance covering claims resulting
from their participation in the athletic program; b) an
athletic program shall be responsible for paying the insurance
deductible amount applicable to the claim of any student
athlete who suffers an injury resulting from his or her
participation in the athletic program and makes a claim
relating to that injury; c) if a student athlete suffers an
injury resulting from his or her participation in the athletic
program that requires ongoing medical treatment, the athletic
program shall provide, for a minimum of two years following
the student athlete's graduation or separation from the IHE,
one of the following: i) the necessary medical treatment and
ii) health insurance that covers the injury and the resulting
deductible amounts; d) Letter "C" "i" and "ii" shall not apply
to preexisting medical conditions that predate the student
athlete's participation in the athletic program; e) an
athletic program shall adopt and implement guidelines to
prevent, assess, and treat sports-related concussions and
dehydration. Additionally, an athletic program shall adopt
and implement exercise and supervision guidelines for any
student athlete identified with potentially life-threatening
health conditions who participates in an athletic program; f)
an IHE that receives, as an average, less than ten million
dollars in annual income derived from media rights for
intercollegiate athletics shall not be subject to the
requirements of this section; and, g) an IHE to which this
section applies shall rely exclusively on revenue derived from
media rights for intercollegiate athletics to defray any costs
accrued under this section (EC Section 67452).
6)Mandates that athletic programs shall comply with all of the
following: a) if an athletic program does not renew an
athletic scholarship of a student athlete who suffers an
incapacitating injury or illness resulting from his or her
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participation in the athletic program, and the IHE medical
staff determines that he or she is medically ineligible to
participate in intercollegiate athletics, the IHE shall
provide an equivalent scholarship that, combined with the
total duration of any previous athletic scholarship or
scholarships received by the student athlete, will be provided
for a total of up to five academic years or until the student
athlete completes his or her undergraduate degree, whichever
period is shorter. Additional years may be provided at the
discretion of the IHE; b) if a student athlete takes a
temporary leave of absence from an IHE, the duration of that
leave of absence shall not count against the five-year limit
on eligibility for an equivalent scholarship as determined; c)
an athletic program shall provide an equivalent scholarship to
a student athlete who was on an athletic scholarship and is in
good standing, but has exhausted his or her athletic
eligibility, for up to one year or until the student athlete
completes his or her primary undergraduate degree, whichever
is shorter, except that an athletic program with a graduation
success rate that is above 60 percent, disaggregated by team,
shall not be subject to the requirements; d) a student athlete
whose athletic scholarship is not renewed for cause by an
athletic program shall receive no benefits under this part,
but may appeal this decision within the IHE attended by the
student or within the athletic conference or association of
which that IHE is a member, as appropriate; e) each athletic
program shall conduct a financial and life skills workshop for
all of its first-year and third-year student athletes at the
beginning of the academic year. This workshop shall include,
but not be limited to, information concerning financial aid,
debt management, and a recommended budget for full- and
partial-scholarship student athletes living on or off campus
during the academic year and the summer term based on the
current academic year's cost of attendance. The workshop shall
also include information on time management skills necessary
for success as a student athlete, and academic resources
available on campus; f) an IHE shall grant a student athlete
the same rights as other students with regard to any and all
matters related to possible adverse or disciplinary actions,
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including, but not necessarily limited to, actions involving
athletically related financial aid; g) an athletic program
shall respond within seven business days with an answer to a
student athlete's written request to transfer to another IHE;
h) an IHE that receives, as an average, less than ten million
dollars in annual income derived from media rights for
intercollegiate athletics shall not be subject to the
requirements of this section of law; and, i) an IHE to which
this section of law applies shall rely exclusively on revenue
derived from media rights for intercollegiate athletics to
defray any costs accrued under this section (EC Section 67453)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: Need for the measure. According to the author,
"Because of the success of the Student Athlete Bill of Rights,
it is unnecessary to wait any longer to repeal the sunset date
and to place undue stress on our student athletes and to not
extend common sense protections indefinitely." The author
contends that student athletes who enroll in school in 2017 and
thereafter, will lack the certainties of the protections of the
Student Athlete Bill of Rights being available to them
throughout their entire collegiate experience.
Background. SB 1525 (Padilla, Chapter 625, Statutes of 2012)
enacted a Student Athlete Bill of Rights (see "Existing Law"
section of this analysis) and placed specified requirements on
collegiate athletic programs, including, but not limited to,
providing financial and life skills workshops for all of its
first-year and third-year student athletes at the beginning of
the academic year; and, ensuring that a student athlete is
granted the same rights as other students with regard to any and
all matters related to possible adverse or disciplinary actions,
commencing with the 2013-14 academic year and ending January 1,
2021.
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Over the course of several months in 2012, this measure was
amended five times; the chaptered version of the measure changed
significantly from the original version of the measure. Prior
versions of SB 1525 included guaranteed scholarships for five
years for student-athletes and removed transfer restrictions for
student athletes. These provisions were negotiated out of SB
1525 for various reasons. The signed version of SB 1525 codified
into law practices that support student-athletes welfare and
minimize the disadvantages to student-athletes.
To note, SB 1525 did not require the institutions of higher
learning that must implement the provisions of said measure to
report to the Legislature and other interested stakeholders,
the outcomes of the measure. Therefore, no initial reports as to
the successes or failures are known at this time.
Policy implications. SB 1525 did not require the institutions
of higher learning that must implement the provisions of said
measure to report to the Legislature and other pertinent
stakeholders on the outcomes of the measure. Therefore, no
progress reports as to the successes or failures are known at
this time. Anecdotally, in the first year and a half of the
implementation of the Student Athlete Bill of Rights, student
athletes have been receiving necessary rights.
Without empirical data proving the successes and within less
than two years into the implementation of the Student Athlete
Bill of Rights, is it prudent to remove the sunset? Moving
forward, the author may want to consider if it is prudent to add
a reporting requirement to the Student Athlete Bill of Rights
prior to removing the sunset.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
AB 735
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Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Jeanice Warden / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960