State Lawmakers Say It's Time To Pay College Athletes; Seek To Move Up California's Fair Pay to Play Act To Sept. 1
SACRAMENTO (CBS SF) -- In the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision in favor of compensating college athletes, two key California lawmakers say they want to launch the state's groundbreaking 'Fair Pay to Play Act' in time for the 2021 college football season.
The state law that allows athletes at colleges and universities in California to earn money from the use of their name, image and likeness currently does not go into effect until Jan. 1, 2023.
ALSO READ: U.S. Supreme Court Sides With College Athletes In Key Compensation Case
State Senators Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, and Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, say they want to go into effect on Sept. 1.
"California kicked off state action to challenge the NCAA's exploitation of college athletes, and today the Supreme Court essentially agreed telling the NCAA they could no longer function as a monopoly 'price fixer,' Skinner said in a statement Monday. "And with 18 states following California's lead to give student athletes ownership of their name, image, and likeness, student athletes are the winners."
NIL laws in seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, Mississippi, and Texas — will go into effect this year.
"Moving up the effective date of the 'Fair Pay to Play Act' is a sensible step to ensure that college student athletes, many of whom are people of color, are treated with financial fairness and economic empowerment sooner," Bradford said. "It also allows California's higher education institutions to attract the best talent as compared to schools in other states that would otherwise have a leg-up in attracting athletes by implementing similar policies sooner."
The Sept. 1 implementation date makes the law an urgency measure, which means it needs a two-thirds vote in both houses of the Legislature to pass. To date, it has garnered strong bipartisan support, has no opposition, and has received no "no" votes.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled the NCAA can't enforce certain rules limiting the education-related benefits — things like computers and graduate scholarships — that colleges offer athletes. But the case doesn't decide whether students can be paid salaries.
In a concurring opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote: "The bottom line is that the NCAA and its member colleges are suppressing the pay of student athletes who collectively generate billions of dollars in revenues for colleges every year. Those enormous sums of money flow to seemingly everyone except the student athletes. College presidents, athletic directors, coaches, conference commissioners, and NCAA executives take in six- and seven-figure salaries. Colleges build lavish new facilities. But the student athletes who generate the revenues, many of whom are African American and from lower-income backgrounds end up with little or nothing."
