Title: NCAA Act of 2019
Policy area: Education

Summary:
National Collegiate Athletics Act of 2019 or the NCAA Act of 2019
This bill establishes protections for student-athletes. For example, the bill establishes minimum duration requirements for certain sports scholarships and requires institutions of higher education to provide medical coverage with respect to student-athlete injuries.
The bill also modifies provisions related to collective bargaining agreements in professional sports and work opportunities for student-athletes.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2036 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2036

 To provide protections for amateur and professional athletes, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 2, 2019

Mr. Lawson of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                to the Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide protections for amateur and professional athletes, and for 
                            other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``National 
Collegiate Athletics Act of 2019'' or the ``NCAA Act of 2019''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
     TITLE I--ATHLETES ENROLLED IN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Sec. 10. Enforcement.
Sec. 11. Amateurism.
Sec. 12. Scholarships.
Sec. 13. Returning athlete scholarships.
Sec. 14. Student-athlete work opportunity.
Sec. 15. Student-athlete injury coverage.
               TITLE II--COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS

Sec. 21. Collective bargaining agreements in professional sports.
                     TITLE III--GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 31. Annual report.
Sec. 32. Definitions.

     TITLE I--ATHLETES ENROLLED IN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION

SEC. 10. ENFORCEMENT.

    Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(30) The institution will comply with the requirements of 
        title I of the NCAA Act of 2019.''.

SEC. 11. AMATEURISM.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), an 
institution of higher education may not restrict, or be a member of an 
intercollegiate athletic association that restricts amateur athletes 
from participating in amateur sports.
    (b) Restrictions.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to restrictions 
with respect to--
            (1) performance enhancement drugs;
            (2) controlled substances which are illegal under the State 
        laws in which the institution is located;
            (3) educational requirements; or
            (4) student code violations.

SEC. 12. SCHOLARSHIPS.

    (a) Freshmen Scholarship Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--In the case of a student described in 
        paragraph (2), an institution of higher education may only 
        provide a scholarship for at least 2 concurrent academic years.
            (2) Student described.--A student described under this 
        paragraph is a student who--
                    (A) participates as an athlete in a collegiate 
                revenue-generating sport;
                    (B) is an incoming freshman at such institution; 
                and
                    (C) does not transfer to such institution from 
                another institution of higher education.
    (b) Other Student Athletes.--
            (1) In general.--In the case of a student described in 
        paragraph (2), an institution of higher education may only 
        provide a scholarship for at least 1 academic year.
            (2) Student described.--A student described in this 
        paragraph is a student who--
                    (A) participates as an athlete in a collegiate 
                revenue-generating sport; and
                    (B) is not a recipient of a scholarship under 
                subsection (a).
    (c) Amount of Scholarship.--The amount of a scholarship under 
subsection (a) or (b) shall be equal to the cost of attendance for the 
institution awarding such scholarship, as determined under section 472 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ll).
    (d) Revocation.--An institution of higher education may only revoke 
a scholarship under subsections (a) and (b) if the recipient of such 
scholarship--
            (1) elects to withdraw from participating in the collegiate 
        revenue-generating sport;
            (2) fails to complete mandatory time with respect to such 
        sport;
            (3) is not an amateur athlete;
            (4) violates the student code of conduct of the institution 
        of higher education; or
            (5) has a GPA or academic performance below the standard 
        for student athletes of the institution of higher education.

SEC. 13. RETURNING ATHLETE SCHOLARSHIPS.

    (a) Associates Degree.--In the case of a student that received a 
scholarship from an institution of higher education under subsection 
(a) or (b) of section 12 and attended such institution for a period of 
less than 2 academic years, such institution of higher education shall 
provide a needs-based scholarship to such student to complete the 
minimum coursework necessary to obtain an associate degree or 
equivalent, unless the athletes scholarship had been previously revoked 
under section 12(d).
    (b) Bachelors Degree.--In the case of a student that received a 
scholarship from an institution of higher education under subsection 
(a) or (b) of section 12 and attended such institution for a period of 
2 or more academic years, such institution of higher education shall 
provide a needs-based scholarship to such student to complete the 
minimum coursework necessary to obtain a bachelors degree.
    (c) Full-Time Students.--An institution of higher education may 
require a returning student described in subsection (a) or (b) to 
attend such institution full-time.
    (d) Needs-Based Scholarship.--In this section, the term ``needs-
based scholarship'' means the amount equal to--
            (1) the cost of attendance for a student (as defined in 
        section 472 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        1087ll)); minus
            (2) the lesser of the following:
                    (A) The expected family contribution for such 
                student if such contribution was determined under 
                section 475 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 1087oo).
                    (B) The expected family contribution for such 
                student if such contribution was determined under 
                section 476 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 1087pp).
                    (C) The expected family contribution for such 
                student if such contribution was determined under 
                section 477 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 1087qq).

SEC. 14. STUDENT-ATHLETE WORK OPPORTUNITY.

    (a) In General.--An institution of higher education that provides a 
scholarship under subsection (a) or (b) of section 12 to a student 
shall require that such student report to such institution any 
potential paid work opportunity such student intends to accept, before 
accepting such work opportunity.
    (b) Review of Work Opportunity.--In the case of a work opportunity 
reported pursuant to subsection (a), an institution shall--
            (1) approve or deny such opportunity in writing not later 
        than 14 days after receiving such report; or
            (2) deny such opportunity only if accepting such 
        opportunity--
                    (A) would nullify the amateur status of such 
                student; or
                    (B) would prohibit the student from fulfilling 
                mandatory time commitments for the sport for which the 
                student received a scholarship under subsection (a) or 
                (b) of section 12.
    (c) Effect of Denial.--In the case of a denial of an opportunity 
reported to an institution of higher education pursuant to subsection 
(a), if a student accepts such opportunity, the institution may revoke 
the scholarship under subsection (a) or (b) of section 12 of such 
student.

SEC. 15. STUDENT-ATHLETE INJURY COVERAGE.

    (a) In General.--In the case of a student at an institution of 
higher education who participates as an athlete in a collegiate 
revenue-generating sport, such institution shall ensure that such 
student is provided, at no cost to such student, coverage for any 
medical costs incurred by such student with respect to any injury 
attributable to participation in such sport. Such institution shall 
serve as the primary payor with respect to 100 percent of such costs in 
lieu of any benefits such student may have under health insurance 
coverage or a group health plan (as such terms are defined in section 
2791 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg-91)).
    (b) Effective Date.--The requirement specified in subsection (a) 
shall apply with respect to students participating in a collegiate 
revenue-generating sport on or after the date that is 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act.

               TITLE II--COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS

SEC. 21. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS IN PROFESSIONAL SPORTS.

    A collective bargaining agreement between a professional sports 
league and a professional players' association entered into after the 
date of the enactment of this Act shall allow adults to enter the 
collective bargaining agreement at the same level as other adults with 
the same experience level in such professional sports league.

                     TITLE III--GENERAL PROVISIONS

SEC. 31. ANNUAL REPORT.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Education shall provide each 
institution of higher education with a collegiate revenue-generating 
sport a report of the responsibilities of such institutions with 
respect to players participating in the collegiate revenue-generating 
sport.

SEC. 32. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Adult.--The term ``adult'' means a person that is at 
        least 18 years old.
            (2) Amateur athlete.--The term ``amateur athlete'' means an 
        athlete that participates in a sport who has not--
                    (A) entered into a contract with a professional 
                team with respect to such sport;
                    (B) received a salary with respect to such sport;
                    (C) received earnings (not including scholarships) 
                related to the participation in such sport; or
                    (D) received compensation from an agent 
                representing or attempting to represent such athlete in 
                such sport.
            (3) Collegiate revenue-generating sport.--The term 
        ``collegiate revenue-generating sport'' means men's basketball 
        or men's football offered by an institution of higher education 
        for which such institution participates in a qualified league.
            (4) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' means an institution 
        described in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
        (20 U.S.C. 1001).
            (5) Qualified league.--The term ``qualified league'' 
        means--
                    (A) division 1, football bowl subdivision, autonomy 
                schools; and
                    (B) any sports league comprised of at least 6 
                participating institutions of higher education in which 
                at least 66 percent or greater of the revenues from a 
                sport offered by such institutions exceed the expenses 
                in that sport in each of the two most recently reported 
                years.
            (6) Professional sports league.--The term ``professional 
        sports league'' means--
                    (A) the National Hockey League;
                    (B) the National Football League;
                    (C) the National Basketball Association;
                    (D) Major League Baseball; and
                    (E) Major League Soccer.
            (7) Professional players association.--A group of 
        professional sports league players that are represented by a 
        collective bargaining agreement with a professional sports 
        league.
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