Today's Law As Amended


Bill PDF |Add To My Favorites | print page

SB-1401 College Athlete Race and Gender Equity Act.(2021-2022)



As Amends the Law Today


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 Section 67452.3 of the Education Code is repealed.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.