Amended  IN  Senate  April 25, 2022
Amended  IN  Senate  March 16, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 1401

Introduced by Senator Bradford

February 18, 2022

An act to add Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 67470) to Part 40.3 of Division 5 of Title 3 of of, and to repeal Section 67452.3 of, the Education Code, relating to postsecondary education.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 1401, as amended, Bradford. College Athlete Race and Gender Equity Act.

Existing law

The Student Athlete Bill of Rights prohibits California postsecondary educational institutions from upholding any rule, requirement, standard or other limitation that prevents an intercollegiate student athlete from earning compensation as a result of the use of the student’s name, image, or likeness. likeness, or athletic reputation. Existing law prohibits a postsecondary educational institution, athletic association, conference or other group or organization with authority over intercollegiate athletics from providing a prospective student athlete with compensation in relation to the athlete’s name, image, or likeness. likeness, or athletic reputation. Existing law authorizes an institution of higher education to establish a degree completion fund, in accordance with applicable rules and bylaws of the governing body of the institution and applicable rules and bylaws of any athletic association of which the institution is a member.

This bill would require institutions of higher education with sports in which 50% of the total sports revenue in the state exceeds the total aggregate grant-in-aid athletics scholarship amount provided to college athletes in the sport during the reporting year to pay an athlete degree completion distribution to each qualifying college athlete based on a specified calculation. The bill would require an institution of higher education to deposit, on an annual basis, the athlete degree completion distribution into a qualifying college athlete’s Athlete Degree Completion Fund established by a designated third party that meets specified requirements. The bill would require the athlete degree completion distribution to be distributed by the designated third party, as specified, to each qualifying college athlete who would have access to up to $25,000 per annual distribution and would be entitled to the remaining athlete degree completion distribution if they complete an undergraduate baccalaureate degree within 7 years from when they enrolled at an institution of higher education.

This bill would require each institution of higher education to comply with Title IX of the federal Education Amendments of 1972 as it applies to college athletics, to suspend an athletic director from intercollegiate athletics responsibilities in the state for 3 years if Title IX compliance is not achieved on or before January 1, 2026, and maintained for at least 18 months in each 36-month period after January 1, 2026, and to preserve each athletic program’s college athletes’ educational opportunities and grant-in-aid athletic scholarship amounts, including by requiring program and athletic personnel salary cost-cutting options to be implemented before, or simultaneously with, any reduction in college athletes’ aggregate unduplicated participation numbers or grant-in-aid athletic scholarship amounts. To the extent the bill would impose additional obligations on community college districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

This bill would instead require institutions of higher education to establish a degree completion fund for each of its student athletes in accordance with applicable rules and bylaws of the governing body of the institution and applicable rules and bylaws of any athletic association of which the institution is a member, as provided. The bill would require a student athlete to have immediate access to funds in the degree completion fund of up to $25,000 per academic year, to register and provide their institution of higher education with the information necessary to establish a degree completion fund, and if the student athlete completes an undergraduate baccalaureate degree within 6 years from when the student athlete first enrolls at an institution of higher education, to receive the balance of their degree completion fund within 60 days of showing proof of completion.
This bill would, among other things, require the amount to be deposited into a student athlete’s degree completion fund by the institution of higher education to be determined by subtracting the amount of grant-in-aid athletic scholarships offered in the student athlete’s sport from 50% of the athletic program’s revenue for that individual sport, divided among each student athlete in that sport, with the resulting quotient allocated to the student athlete’s degree completion fund. The bill would prohibit a transfer of funds from an institution of higher education to a student athlete from constituting a payment for purposes of establishing an employment relationship between a student athlete and their institution of higher education, and would prohibit a grant-in-aid athletic scholarship from being reduced as a result of a transfer of funds from an institution of higher education to a student athlete for purposes of a degree completion fund.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YESNO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 67452.3 of the Education Code is repealed.
67452.3.

An institution of higher education may establish a degree completion fund, in accordance with applicable rules and bylaws of the governing body of the institution and applicable rules and bylaws of any athletic association of which the institution is a member.

SEC. 2.

 Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 67470) is added to Part 40.3 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to read:
CHAPTER  3. The College Athlete Race and Gender Equity Act

67470.
 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) Data clearly shows that college athletes of color in the sports of football and men’s basketball have graduated at rates lower than those of other students, other athletes, and their teammates.
(2) Scholars have concluded that Black college athletes as a group often experience educational neglect due to a range of issues, including the lack of adequate academic learning support, practices associated with maintaining athletic eligibility instead of academic advancement, academic clustering, and limitations placed on course selections and academic majors.
(3) In March 2018, the University of Southern California Race and Equity Center released a report that 40 percent of the universities studied reported a decline in graduation rates for Black male athletes between 2016 and 2018, inclusive.
(4) California’s Football Bowl Subdivision football players and Division I men and women basketball players are predominantly Black, and are the only college athletes in the state who do not receive at least 50 percent of the revenue that they produce.
(5) Excessive athletic program expenditures on salaries, administration, and facilities are not necessary to field intercollegiate athletics and should be partially redirected to address racial and gender-based inequities endured by college athletes.
(6) Federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court, have ruled that National Collegiate Athletic Association policies limiting college athlete compensation violate federal antitrust law at the expense of college athletes in California and nationwide.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to continue to develop policies to ensure appropriate protections are in place to avoid exploitation of student athletes.

67471.
 (a) (1) An institution of higher education shall establish a degree completion fund for each of its student athletes in accordance with applicable rules and bylaws of the governing body of the institution and applicable rules and bylaws of any athletic association of which the institution is a member.
(2) A student athlete who completes an undergraduate baccalaureate degree within six years from when the student athlete first enrolls at an institution of higher education shall receive the balance of their degree completion fund within 60 days of showing proof of degree completion.
(3) The institution of higher education shall transfer the remaining balance of a student athlete’s degree completion fund to the student athlete in the form of a check or electronic payment.
(b) A student athlete shall have immediate access to funds in their degree completion fund of up to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) per academic year.
(c) A student athlete shall register and provide their institution of higher education with the information necessary to establish a degree completion fund pursuant to this chapter.
(d) The institution of higher education shall have a fiduciary duty to each student athlete whose degree completion fund is managed pursuant to this chapter. A student athlete shall not be charged for any costs incurred by the institution of higher education for administering or managing the student athlete’s degree completion fund. A student athlete’s degree completion fund is not the property of the institution of higher education.

67472.
 (a) The amount deposited into a student athlete’s degree completion fund by the institution of higher education shall be determined by subtracting the amount of grant-in-aid athletic scholarships offered in the student athlete’s sport from 50 percent of the athletic program’s revenue for that individual sport. The difference shall be divided among each student athlete in that sport. The resulting quotient shall be allocated to the student athlete’s degree completion fund.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, a transfer of funds from an institution of higher education to a student athlete shall not constitute a payment for purposes of establishing an employment relationship between a student athlete and their institution of higher education.
(c) A student grant-in-aid athletic scholarship shall not be reduced as a result of a transfer of funds from an institution of higher education to a student athlete for purposes of a degree completion fund.

67473.
 (a) (1) If a student athlete transfers to a different institution of higher education and participates in their athletic program, the remaining balance of the student athlete’s degree completion fund shall be transferred to the institution of higher education that the student athlete transferred to within 60 days of that student athlete enrolling in that institution of higher education. An institution of higher education receiving a student athlete’s degree completion fund shall begin managing that student athlete’s fund in the same manner it manages all other student athlete degree completion funds at that institution of higher education.
(2) If a student athletes chooses to no longer participate in an athletic program after transferring, the student athlete shall forfeit their degree completion fund after the institution of higher education receives the student athlete’s degree completion fund. The remaining balance shall be redistributed back into the athletic program of the institution of higher education to which the student athlete transferred.
(b) If a student athlete transfers to an athletic program at a community college, the student athlete shall forfeit their degree completion fund. The remaining balance of the student athlete’s degree completion fund shall be redistributed back into the institution of higher education’s athletic program.

67474.
 (a) A student athlete shall forfeit their degree completion fund, and the remaining balance shall be redistributed back into the institution of higher education’s athletic program, in any of the following scenarios:
(1) The student athlete does not complete an undergraduate baccalaureate degree within six years of first enrolling in an institution of higher education.
(2) The student athlete transfers to an athletic program at a community college.
(3) The student athlete transfers to an out-of-state institution of higher education and participates in an athletic program at that institution of higher education
(4) The student athlete chooses to no longer participate in an athletic program.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a student athlete with medical proof of suffering a debilitating injury or condition resulting from their participation in an athletic program at their institution of higher education that would significantly interfere with the completion of an undergraduate baccalaureate degree shall receive the remaining balance of their degree completion fund within 60 days of showing proof of the injury or condition.