I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6616 

To establish collective bargaining rights for college athletes, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 6, 2023 

Mr. BOWMAN (for himself, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. FROST, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. OMAR, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Mr. THANEDAR, 

Ms. TLAIB, and Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To establish collective bargaining rights for college athletes, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘College Athlete Right 

5 to Organize Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The National Labor Relations Act (29 

9 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) seeks to remedy the inequality 

2 

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1 of bargaining power between employees and employ2 ers primarily through establishing and protecting the 

3 rights of employees to self-organize and designate 

4 representatives of their own choosing for the purpose 

5 of negotiating the terms and conditions of their em6 ployment or other mutual aid or protection. 

7 (2) Labor organizations often originate to rem8 edy unfair and exploitative labor practices by em9 ployers through assisting employees in securing more 

10 equitable terms and conditions of their employment, 

11 including fair compensation and safe working condi12 tions, which individual employees would be unlikely 

13 to negotiate successfully for on their own. 

14 (3) Labor organizations serve unique and essen15 tial purposes for professional athletes competing in 

16 sports leagues, where it is desirable to establish uni17 form rules and standards across multiple employers. 

18 These rules and standards bear significant con19 sequences to the athletes in terms of compensation, 

20 health and safety, and the ability or lack thereof for 

21 athletes to choose their employer, among other 

22 issues related to the athletes’ well-being. 

23 (4) The formation of labor organizations rep24 resenting athletes in professional sports leagues in 

25 the United States has helped end exploitative pracVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:50 Jan 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6616.IH H6616
3 

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1 tices by team owners and management, particularly 

2 through establishing collective-bargaining agree3 ments that have secured athletes a fair share of the 

4 revenues their talent and labor produces, as well as 

5 more equitable terms of their employment and pro6 tections for their short- and long-term health. 

7 (5) College athletes face exploitative and unfair 

8 labor practices by the National Collegiate Athletic 

9 Association (referred to in this section as the 

10 ‘‘NCAA’’) and its member institutions, primarily 

11 through the denial of the basic economic and labor 

12 rights of such athletes, which the NCAA and its 

13 member institutions have justified by defining col14 lege athletes as amateurs. 

15 (6) The NCAA and its member institutions 

16 have denied college athletes a fair wage for their 

17 labor by colluding to cap compensation; they main18 tain strict and exacting control over the terms and 

19 conditions of college athletes’ labor; and they exer20 cise the ability to terminate an athlete’s eligibility to 

21 compete if the athlete violates these terms and con22 ditions. 

23 (7) College athletes exhibit the markers of em24 ployment as established under the common law defi25 nition of the term ‘‘employee’’: They perform a valuVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:50 Jan 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6616.IH H6616
4 

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1 able service for their respective colleges under a con2 tract for hire in the form of grant-in-aid agreements; 

3 these agreements assert significant control over how 

4 athletes perform their work and the conditions under 

5 which they work; and they receive compensation in 

6 the form of grant-in-aid and stipends in exchange 

7 for their athletic services. 

8 (8) To establish more equitable terms and con9 ditions for college athletes’ labor, college athletes 

10 need representation of their own choosing to nego11 tiate collective-bargaining agreements with their re12 spective colleges and the athletic conferences that 

13 help set rules and standards across an entire league. 

14 (9) To organize effectively, college athletes 

15 must be able to form collective bargaining units 

16 across institutions of higher education that compete 

17 against each other, including within athletic con18 ferences; and, accordingly, to establish effective col19 lective bargaining rights for college athletes under 

20 this Act, the National Labor Relations Act must be 

21 amended to cover both private and public institu22 tions of higher education to the extent that college 

23 athletes attending such institutions fall within the 

24 definition of ‘‘employee’’ under that Act, as amended 

25 by this Act. 

5 

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1 (10) The Constitution of the United States 

2 vests Congress with the power to regulate commerce 

3 between the States, and intercollegiate sports, which 

4 are maintained by athletic associations that host 

5 competitions between colleges across States, involves 

6 interstate commerce that generates annual revenue 

7 of more than $15,000,000,000. 

8 (11) Intercollegiate sports’ significant engage9 ment in interstate commerce justifies application of 

10 the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 et 

11 seq.) to regulate the labor market within which pub12 lic and private institutions of higher education com13 pete and set rules pertaining to the wages and work14 ing conditions of college athletes. 

15 SEC. 3. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING RIGHTS OF COLLEGE 

16 ATHLETES. 

17 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2 of the National Labor 

18 Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152) is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the 

20 following: ‘‘Notwithstanding the previous sentence, 

21 the term ‘employer’ includes a public institution of 

22 higher education with respect to the employment of 

23 college athlete employees of the institution.’’; 

24 (2) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end the 

25 following: ‘‘Any individual who participates in an 

6 

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1 intercollegiate sport for an institution of higher edu2 cation, and is a student enrolled in the institution of 

3 higher education, shall be considered an employee of 

4 the institution of higher education if— 

5 ‘‘(A) the individual receives any form of direct 

6 compensation, including grant-in-aid, from the insti7 tution of higher education; and 

8 ‘‘(B) any terms or conditions of such compensa9 tion require participation in an intercollegiate 

10 sport.’’; and 

11 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(15) The term ‘grant-in-aid’ means a scholarship, 

13 grant, or other form of financial assistance that is pro14 vided by an institution of higher education to an individual 

15 for the individual’s undergraduate or graduate course of 

16 study. 

17 ‘‘(16) The term ‘institution of higher education’ has 

18 the meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 

19 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

20 ‘‘(17) The term ‘intercollegiate athletic conference’— 

21 ‘‘(A) means any conference, or other group or 

22 organization, of institutions of higher education 

23 that— 

7 

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1 ‘‘(i) exercises authority over intercollegiate 

2 sports at such institutions of higher education; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(ii) is engaged in commerce or an indus5 try or activity affecting commerce; and 

6 ‘‘(B) notwithstanding subparagraph (A), does 

7 not include the National Collegiate Athletic Associa8 tion. 

9 ‘‘(18) The term ‘college athlete employee’ means an 

10 individual described in the second sentence of paragraph 

11 (3).’’. 

12 (b) MULTIEMPLOYER BARGAINING UNIT.—Section 

13 9(b) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 

14 159(b)) is amended by striking the period at the end and 

15 inserting the following: ‘‘: Provided, That, for the purpose 

16 of establishing an appropriate bargaining unit for college 

17 athlete employees at institutions of higher education in an 

18 intercollegiate athletic conference, the Board shall recog19 nize multiple institutions of higher education within an 

20 intercollegiate athletic conference as a multiemployer bar21 gaining unit, but only if consented to by the employee rep22 resentatives for the intercollegiate sports bargaining units 

23 at the institutions of higher education that will be included 

24 in the multiemployer bargaining unit.’’. 

8 

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1 (c) JURISDICTION RELATED TO INTERCOLLEGIATE

2 SPORTS.—Section 14(c)(1) of the National Labor Rela3 tions Act (29 U.S.C. 164(c)(1)) is amended by striking 

4 ‘‘Provided,’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘Provided, That 

5 the Board shall exercise jurisdiction over institutions of 

6 higher education and college athlete employees of such in7 stitutions in relation to all collective bargaining matters 

8 under this Act pertaining to such employees, including any 

9 representation matter, such as recognizing or establishing 

10 a bargaining unit for such employees and any labor dis11 pute involving such institutions and employees: Provided 

12 further,’’. 

13 (d) PROHIBITION ON WAIVER.—An individual may 

14 not enter into any agreement (including an agreement for 

15 grant-in-aid, as defined in section 3(15) of the National 

16 Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(15)) or legal settle17 ment that waives or permits noncompliance with this Act 

18 or the amendments made by this Act. 

19 SEC. 4. TREATMENT OF DIRECT COMPENSATION FOR TAX 

20 PURPOSES AND ELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL 

21 FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. 

22 Nothing in this Act, or an amendment made by this 

23 Act, shall— 

24 (1) cause any type of direct compensation de25 scribed in section 2(3) of the National Labor RelaVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:50 Jan 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6616.IH H6616
9 

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1 tions Act (29 U.S.C. 152(3)) that was not previously 

2 treated as income for which a tax may be imposed 

3 under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to become 

4 a type of direct compensation for which such a tax 

5 may be imposed; 

6 (2) cause any individual to be treated as an em7 ployee, or cause any amounts received by an indi8 vidual to be treated as wages, for purposes of any 

9 provision in the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 re10 lating to employment taxes or the withholding of 

11 taxes by an employer if such individual or amounts 

12 would not otherwise be so treated; 

13 (3) affect the treatment of qualified scholar14 ships under section 117 of the Internal Revenue 

15 Code of 1986; or 

16 (4) otherwise affect the treatment of any direct 

17 compensation described in such section 2(3) in de18 termining income, including gross income or ad19 justed gross income, for purposes of— 

20 (A) the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, in21 cluding any reporting requirements under such 

22 Code; or 

23 (B) determining eligibility for any form of 

24 Federal financial assistance, including assist25 ance under subpart 1 of part A of title IV of 

10 

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1 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

2 1070a et seq.). 

3 SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY. 

4 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 

5 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend6 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti7 tutional, the remainder of this Act and the amendments 

8 made by this Act, and the application of the provision or 

9 amendment to any other person or circumstance, shall not 

10 be affected. 

11 SEC. 6. SHORT TITLE. 

12 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘College Athlete Right 

13 to Organize Act’’. 

14 SEC. 7. FINDINGS. 

15 Congress finds the following: 

16 (1) The National Labor Relations Act (29 

17 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) seeks to remedy the inequality 

18 of bargaining power between employees and employ19 ers primarily through establishing and protecting the 

20 rights of employees to self-organize and designate 

21 representatives of their own choosing for the purpose 

22 of negotiating the terms and conditions of their em23 ployment or other mutual aid or protection. 

24 (2) Labor organizations often originate to rem25 edy unfair and exploitative labor practices by emVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:50 Jan 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6616.IH H6616
11 

•HR 6616 IH

1 ployers through assisting employees in securing more 

2 equitable terms and conditions of their employment, 

3 including fair compensation and safe working condi4 tions, which individual employees would be unlikely 

5 to negotiate successfully for on their own. 

6 (3) Labor organizations serve unique and essen7 tial purposes for professional athletes competing in 

8 sports leagues, where it is desirable to establish uni9 form rules and standards across multiple employers. 

10 These rules and standards bear significant con11 sequences to the athletes in terms of compensation, 

12 health and safety, and the ability or lack thereof for 

13 athletes to choose their employer, among other 

14 issues related to the athletes’ well-being. 

15 (4) The formation of labor organizations rep16 resenting athletes in professional sports leagues in 

17 the United States has helped end exploitative prac18 tices by team owners and management, particularly 

19 through establishing collective-bargaining agree20 ments that have secured athletes a fair share of the 

21 revenues their talent and labor produces, as well as 

22 more equitable terms of their employment and pro23 tections for their short- and long-term health. 

24 (5) College athletes face exploitative and unfair 

25 labor practices by the National Collegiate Athletic 

12 

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1 Association (referred to in this section as the 

2 ‘‘NCAA’’) and its member institutions, primarily 

3 through the denial of the basic economic and labor 

4 rights of such athletes, which the NCAA and its 

5 member institutions have justified by defining col6 lege athletes as amateurs. 

7 (6) The NCAA and its member institutions 

8 have denied college athletes a fair wage for their 

9 labor by colluding to cap compensation; they main10 tain strict and exacting control over the terms and 

11 conditions of college athletes’ labor; and they exer12 cise the ability to terminate an athlete’s eligibility to 

13 compete if the athlete violates these terms and con14 ditions. 

15 (7) College athletes exhibit the markers of em16 ployment as established under the common law defi17 nition of the term ‘‘employee’’: They perform a valu18 able service for their respective colleges under a con19 tract for hire in the form of grant-in-aid agreements; 

20 these agreements assert significant control over how 

21 athletes perform their work and the conditions under 

22 which they work; and they receive compensation in 

23 the form of grant-in-aid and stipends in exchange 

24 for their athletic services. 

13 

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1 (8) To establish more equitable terms and con2 ditions for college athletes’ labor, college athletes 

3 need representation of their own choosing to nego4 tiate collective-bargaining agreements with their re5 spective colleges and the athletic conferences that 

6 help set rules and standards across an entire league. 

7 (9) To organize effectively, college athletes 

8 must be able to form collective bargaining units 

9 across institutions of higher education that compete 

10 against each other, including within athletic con11 ferences; and, accordingly, to establish effective col12 lective bargaining rights for college athletes under 

13 this Act, the National Labor Relations Act must be 

14 amended to cover both private and public institu15 tions of higher education to the extent that college 

16 athletes attending such institutions fall within the 

17 definition of ‘‘employee’’ under that Act, as amended 

18 by this Act. 

19 (10) The Constitution of the United States 

20 vests Congress with the power to regulate commerce 

21 between the States, and intercollegiate sports, which 

22 are maintained by athletic associations that host 

23 competitions between colleges across States, involves 

24 interstate commerce that generates annual revenue 

25 of more than $15,000,000,000. 

14 

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1 (11) Intercollegiate sports’ significant engage2 ment in interstate commerce justifies application of 

3 the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 et 

4 seq.) to regulate the labor market within which pub5 lic and private institutions of higher education com6 pete and set rules pertaining to the wages and work7 ing conditions of college athletes. 

8 SEC. 8. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING RIGHTS OF COLLEGE 

9 ATHLETES. 

10 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2 of the National Labor 

11 Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152) is amended— 

12 (1) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the 

13 following: ‘‘Notwithstanding the previous sentence, 

14 the term ‘employer’ includes a public institution of 

15 higher education with respect to the employment of 

16 college athlete employees of the institution.’’; 

17 (2) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end the 

18 following: ‘‘Any individual who participates in an 

19 intercollegiate sport for an institution of higher edu20 cation, and is a student enrolled in the institution of 

21 higher education, shall be considered an employee of 

22 the institution of higher education if— 

23 ‘‘(A) the individual receives any form of direct 

24 compensation, including grant-in-aid, from the insti25 tution of higher education; and 

15 

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1 ‘‘(B) any terms or conditions of such compensa2 tion require participation in an intercollegiate 

3 sport.’’; and 

4 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(15) The term ‘grant-in-aid’ means a scholarship, 

6 grant, or other form of financial assistance that is pro7 vided by an institution of higher education to an individual 

8 for the individual’s undergraduate or graduate course of 

9 study. 

10 ‘‘(16) The term ‘institution of higher education’ has 

11 the meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 

12 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

13 ‘‘(17) The term ‘intercollegiate athletic conference’— 

14 ‘‘(A) means any conference, or other group or 

15 organization, of institutions of higher education 

16 that— 

17 ‘‘(i) exercises authority over intercollegiate 

18 sports at such institutions of higher education; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(ii) is engaged in commerce or an indus21 try or activity affecting commerce; and 

22 ‘‘(B) notwithstanding subparagraph (A), does 

23 not include the National Collegiate Athletic Associa24 tion. 

16 

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1 ‘‘(18) The term ‘college athlete employee’ means an 

2 individual described in the second sentence of paragraph 

3 (3).’’. 

4 (b) MULTIEMPLOYER BARGAINING UNIT.—Section 

5 9(b) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 

6 159(b)) is amended by striking the period at the end and 

7 inserting the following: ‘‘: Provided, That, for the purpose 

8 of establishing an appropriate bargaining unit for college 

9 athlete employees at institutions of higher education in an 

10 intercollegiate athletic conference, the Board shall recog11 nize multiple institutions of higher education within an 

12 intercollegiate athletic conference as a multiemployer bar13 gaining unit, but only if consented to by the employee rep14 resentatives for the intercollegiate sports bargaining units 

15 at the institutions of higher education that will be included 

16 in the multiemployer bargaining unit.’’. 

17 (c) JURISDICTION RELATED TO INTERCOLLEGIATE

18 SPORTS.—Section 14(c)(1) of the National Labor Rela19 tions Act (29 U.S.C. 164(c)(1)) is amended by striking 

20 ‘‘Provided,’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘Provided, That 

21 the Board shall exercise jurisdiction over institutions of 

22 higher education and college athlete employees of such in23 stitutions in relation to all collective bargaining matters 

24 under this Act pertaining to such employees, including any 

25 representation matter, such as recognizing or establishing 

17 

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1 a bargaining unit for such employees and any labor dis2 pute involving such institutions and employees: Provided 

3 further,’’. 

4 (d) PROHIBITION ON WAIVER.—An individual may 

5 not enter into any agreement (including an agreement for 

6 grant-in-aid, as defined in section 3(15) of the National 

7 Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(15))) or legal settle8 ment that waives or permits noncompliance with this Act 

9 or the amendments made by this Act. 

10 SEC. 9. TREATMENT OF DIRECT COMPENSATION FOR TAX 

11 PURPOSES AND ELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL 

12 FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. 

13 Nothing in this Act, or an amendment made by this 

14 Act, shall— 

15 (1) cause any type of direct compensation de16 scribed in section 2(3) of the National Labor Rela17 tions Act (29 U.S.C. 152(3)) that was not previously 

18 treated as income for which a tax may be imposed 

19 under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to become 

20 a type of direct compensation for which such a tax 

21 may be imposed; 

22 (2) cause any individual to be treated as an em23 ployee, or cause any amounts received by an indi24 vidual to be treated as wages, for purposes of any 

25 provision in the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 reVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:50 Jan 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6616.IH H6616
18 

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1 lating to employment taxes or the withholding of 

2 taxes by an employer if such individual or amounts 

3 would not otherwise be so treated; 

4 (3) affect the treatment of qualified scholar5 ships under section 117 of the Internal Revenue 

6 Code of 1986; or 

7 (4) otherwise affect the treatment of any direct 

8 compensation described in such section 2(3) in de9 termining income, including gross income or ad10 justed gross income, for purposes of— 

11 (A) the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, in12 cluding any reporting requirements under such 

13 Code; or 

14 (B) determining eligibility for any form of 

15 Federal financial assistance, including assist16 ance under subpart 1 of part A of title IV of 

17 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

18 1070a et seq.). 

19 SEC. 10. SEVERABILITY. 

20 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 

21 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend22 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti23 tutional, the remainder of this Act and the amendments 

24 made by this Act, and the application of the provision or 

19 

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1 amendment to any other person or circumstance, shall not 

2 be affected. 

Æ