BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 735
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Author: |Ridley-Thomas |
|-----------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|Version: |January 4, 2016 Hearing |
| |Date: June 29, 2016 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Consultant:|Lynn Lorber |
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Postsecondary education: Student Athlete Bill of
Rights
SUMMARY
This bill eliminates the January 1, 2021, sunset on the Student
Athlete Bill of Rights.
BACKGROUND
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.
(Education Code § 67360)
2) Requires California postsecondary educational
institutions that offer athletic scholarships to provide
specific information on its Web site, such as the costs of
attendance that are prohibited from inclusion in a full
grant-in-aid athletic scholarship, National Collegiate
Athletic Association policy on scholarship duration, the
most recent cost of attendance, the institution's policy on
athletically related medical expenses, and athletic release
AB 735 (Ridley-Thomas) Page 2
of ?
information. (EC § 67365)
Student Athlete Bill of Rights
3) Applies the following to an IHE that receives, as an
average, at least $10 million in annual income from media
rights for intercollegiate athletics. (EC § 67452)
4) Requires an IHE, if an athletic program does not renew
an athletic scholarship of a student athlete who suffers an
incapacitating injury or illness resulting from
participating in the athletic program and is determined to
be medically ineligible, to provide an equivalent
scholarship as specified. (EC § 67452)
5) Requires an athletic program to 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. (EC §
67452)
6) Requires each athletic program to be responsible for
paying the premiums of each of its student athletes whose
household has an income and asset level at or
below the level for Cal Grant A recipients for insurance
covering claims resulting from their participation in the
athletic program. (EC § 67453)
7) Requires an athletic program to be responsible for
paying the insurance deductible for a claim of any student
athlete who suffers an injury resulting from participation
in the athletic program. (EC § 67453)
8) Requires an athletic program, if a student suffers an
injury resulting from participation in the athletic program
that requires ongoing medical treatment, to provide for at
least two years following the student's graduation or
separation from the institution of higher education (IHE)
either the necessary medical treatment or health insurance
that covers the injury and resulting deductibles. (EC §
67453)
ANALYSIS
AB 735 (Ridley-Thomas) Page 3
of ?
This bill eliminates the January 1, 2021 sunset on the Student
Athlete Bill of Rights, thereby extending these rights
indefinitely.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. According to the author, "The Student
Athlete Bill of Rights will become inoperative on January
1, 2021. Any benefits provided pursuant to this act would
cease on that date in the middle of the academic year.
Thus, student athletes who enroll in school in 2017 and
later will lack the certainties of the protections of the
Student Athlete Bill of Rights being available to them
throughout their entire collegiate experience. 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."
2) Only affects four universities. Based on annual revenues
from media rights, the Student Athlete Bill of Rights
currently only applies to four institutions of higher
education: the University of California at Berkeley and Los
Angeles, Stanford University, and the University of
Southern California. None of these institutions have
expressed opposition to removing the sunset and making the
Student Athlete Bill of Rights permanent.
3) National Collegiate Athletic Association and Pac-12
Conference rules. According to the National Collegiate
Athletic Association's (NCAA) Web site, "NCAA full
scholarships cover tuition and fees, room, board and
course-related books. Most student-athletes who receive
athletic scholarships receive an amount covering a portion
of these costs. Division I schools may provide
student-athletes with multiyear scholarships.
Additionally, Division I schools may pay for
student-athletes to finish their bachelor's or master's
degrees after they finish playing NCAA sports. If a school
plans to reduce or not renew a student-athlete's aid, the
school must notify the student-athlete in writing by July 1
and provide an opportunity to appeal. In most cases,
coaches decide who receives a scholarship, the scholarship
amount and whether it will be renewed."
AB 735 (Ridley-Thomas) Page 4
of ?
"NCAA bylaws require that member institutions verify
student-athletes have insurance coverage for athletically
related injuries, with limits up to the deductible of the
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
Catastrophic Injury Insurance Program (currently $90,000),
before they can practice or play. Members are permitted to
provide that coverage, but they are not required to do so.
Coverage can be provided through the school, a
parent/guardian policy or a policy student-athletes have on
their own. If coverage by some source is not in place, the
student-athlete cannot practice or play. The NCAA provides
all student-athletes at all active member institutions
coverage under the catastrophic program. This program
provides $20 million in lifetime benefits to
student-athletes who become totally disabled while
practicing or playing. These benefits include medical
expenses as well as disability benefits. An injured
student-athlete is eligible to receive medical benefits
after the policy deductible (currently $90,000) is met."
According to the Pac-12 Conference's Web site, rules adopted in
2014, which apply to all Pac-12 student-athletes across all
sports, include:
a) Athletic scholarships are guaranteed for four
years for student-athletes in all sports.
b) Student-athletes who leave school before
graduating can use the remainder of their educational
expenses later to earn their degrees.
c) Medical expenses for student-athletes who are
injured during their college athletic careers are
covered for up to four years after a student-athlete
leaves the institution.
d) Student-athletes who transfer between Pac-12
institutions are able to receive athletic scholarships
immediately.
AB 735 (Ridley-Thomas) Page 5
of ?
e) Student-athletes are represented in the
Conference governance structure.
1) Status. There is no requirement for affected institutions
to provide progress reports, data or an evaluation relating
to implementation of the Student Athlete Bill of Rights.
The Student Athlete Bill of Rights has been in place for
three academic years, and is scheduled to sunset on January
1, 2021.
Should the Legislature have data relative to the implementation
of the Student Athlete Bill of Rights before extending its
provisions indefinitely?
Should the sunset be repealed four years before the scheduled
inoperative date?
2) Fiscal impact. According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill has no state costs for the impacted
public institutions to continue compliance with the Student
Athlete Bill of Rights. The Student Athlete Bill of Rights
requires institutions to rely exclusively on revenue from
media rights to cover the costs of compliance.
SUPPORT
None received.
OPPOSITION
None received.
-- END --