BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1525
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1525 (Padilla)
As Amended August 6, 2012
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :22-14
ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS 5-1 HIGHER EDUCATION
6-2
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|Ayes:|Campos, Butler, Carter, |Ayes:|Block, Achadjian, |
| |Gatto, Mendoza | |Brownley, Fong, Galgiani, |
| | | |Lara |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Beth Gaines |Nays:|Olsen, Miller |
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, | | |
| |Bradford, Charles | | |
| |Calderon, Campos, Davis, | | |
| |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, | | |
| |Mitchell, Solorio | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, | | |
| |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Enacts a Student Athlete Bill of Rights and places
specified requirements on collegiate athletic programs
commencing with the 2013-14 academic year and ending January 1,
2021. Specifically, this bill :
1)Applies all of the following requirements only to a higher
education institution receiving income of more than $10
million annually through media rights (contracts with
television networks), and requires the institution to rely
exclusively on this revenue to cover the costs of these
requirements.
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2)Requires the postsecondary education institution, if a student
athlete's athletic scholarship is not renewed due to
incapacitating injury or illness resulting from participation
in the athletic program, to provide an equivalent scholarship,
that when combined with the previous athletic scholarship,
provides the student with up to five academic years or until
the student completes his academic degree, whichever comes
first. A student's temporary leave of absence shall not count
against the five-year limit.
3)Requires an athletic program with a six-year graduation
success rate, disaggregated by team, of less than 60%, to
provide a student athlete in good standing who has exhausted
their athletic scholarship with an equivalent scholarship for
up to one year.
4)Requires each athletic program to conduct a financial and life
skills workshop, as specified, for all first-year and
third-year student athletes.
5)Requires an athletic program to respond within seven business
days to a student athlete's written request to transfer.
6)Stipulates that an athletic program, unless the student
athlete declines, is responsible for paying the health
insurance premiums of a student athlete whose household income
does not exceed the level of Cal Grant A recipients, for
insurance covering claims resulting from the student's
participation in the athletic program.
7)Stipulates that an athletic program is responsible for paying
the insurance deductible amount applicable to a student who
suffers injury resulting from participation in the athletic
program, and if the student requires ongoing medical
treatment, the program is to provide, for at least two years
after the student's graduation or separation from the
institution, either necessary medical treatment or health
insurance covering the injury and resulting deductibles.
8)Requires the athletic program to adopt and implement
guidelines to prevent, assess and treat sports-related
concussions and dehydration.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
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Committee:
1)Based on their annual revenue from media rights, this bill
will initially only apply to four schools-the University of
California's (UC's) Berkeley and Los Angeles campuses,
Stanford University, and the University of Southern California
(USC). There will be no additional costs to UC, as the
university indicates this bill's requirements are consistent
with current policies and practices.
2)The California State University indicates that its San Diego
campus will meet the media revenue threshold for this bill in
the near future and estimates that annual costs for additional
scholarships could be up to $500,000, covered by non-state
sources.
3)To the extent former student-athletes, upon losing an athletic
scholarship, receive extended scholarships paid for media
rights revenues, instead of being entitled to state and
institutional aid, there will be minor savings to these
programs.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "The National Collegiate
Athletics Association (NCAA) regulations provide universities
with a significant amount of discretion in how they protect
student-athletes. Universities choose not to renew a
scholarship annually from year to year at will. Similarly,
university and NCAA medical insurance only kicks in after the
student-athlete's insurance is exhausted. Lastly, there is
little governing the due process and transfer rights for
student-athletes, allowing universities to give student-athletes
fewer rights than the student general body."
As noted previously, the provisions of this bill would apply
only to universities with annual media revenues of $10 million
or more-UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC, and Stanford. These
universities enroll 2,500 of the state's 12,500 student athletes
enrolled in Division I- or Division II-eligible institutions.
They note that the scholarship, transfer, and insurance/medical
coverage provisions of this bill are consistent with their
existing practices.
Analysis Prepared by : Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916)
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319-3960
FN:
0004744