Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits public institutions of higher education from appropriating funds generated by tuition or student fees to its athletic programs.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the funding of athletic programs at public institutions of higher education and supplementing Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Notwithstanding any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, a public institution of higher education shall not appropriate any institutional funds generated by tuition or student fees to its athletic department or to any athletic program.
b. Each public institution of higher education shall annually certify to the Secretary of Higher Education, in a manner and form as determined by the secretary, that no institutional funds generated from tuition or students fees are appropriated to its athletic department and athletic programs. In the event that the secretary determines a public institution of higher education violated the provisions of subsection a. of this section, the secretary shall notify the institution of the violation.
c. A public institution of higher education that appropriates institutional funds generated by tuition or student fees to its athletic department or to any athletic program shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount equal to the amount the institution appropriated to its athletic department or athletic programs. The civil penalty shall be collected and enforced pursuant to the provisions of the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill prohibits public institutions of higher education from appropriating any institutional funds generated by tuition or student fees to its athletic department or to any athletic program.
Under the bill, each public institution of higher education is required to annually certify to the Secretary of Higher Education, in a manner and form as determined by the secretary, that no institutional funds generated from tuition or students fees were appropriated to its athletic department and athletic programs. In the event that the secretary determines a public institution of higher education violated this prohibition, the secretary is required to notify the institution of the violation.
The bill provides that a public institution of higher education that appropriates institutional funds generated by tuition or student fees to its athletic department or to any athletic program is subject to a civil penalty in an amount equal to the amount the institution appropriated to its athletic department or athletic programs. The civil penalty will be collected and enforced pursuant to the provisions of the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).
It has been reported that one of New Jersey's flagship public institutions of higher education, Rutgers, The State University, has needed an ongoing annual subsidy, generated largely through mandatory student fees and transfers from the university's academic programs, to offset a budget deficit of between $20 million and $40 million generated from the institution's money-losing athletics program.
The purpose of the bill is to ensure that a public institution of higher education does not increase its tuition and fees, which are a burden on the students, to offset the institution's athletic debt.