STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2834 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 23, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SEPULVEDA, COLTON, MAGNARELLI, COOK, GRAF, WALTER, STECK, CRESPO -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. GOTTFRIED, PERRY, RIVERA -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to enacting the student athlete bill of rights; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "student 2 athlete bill of rights". 3 § 2. The Legislature finds and declares the following: 4 1. Meeting the educational needs of student athletes should be a 5 priority for intercollegiate athletic programs. 6 2. New York's institutions of higher education that participate in 7 Division I and Division II intercollegiate athletics collectively gener- 8 ate millions of dollars annually in media contracts, and this revenue 9 would not exist without the efforts of student athletes. 10 3. Student athletes generate large revenues for many athletic 11 programs, spend approximately forty hours per week participating in 12 their respective sports, and suffer current and historically low gradu- 13 ation rates. 14 4. Providing adequate health and safety protection for student 15 athletes can help prevent serious injury and death. 16 5. Current and former student athletes can be left to pay for medical 17 expenses incurred from injuries suffered while participating in inter- 18 collegiate athletics. 19 6. Institutions of higher education should provide their student 20 athletes with the same due process protection afforded to students who 21 do not participate in athletics. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD06677-01-7

A. 2834 2 1 7. Athletic programs in this state are subject to federal gender equi- 2 ty requirements under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 3 U.S.C. Sec. 1681 et seq.). 4 8. An institution of higher education should not punish any student 5 athlete for transferring to another institution of higher education. 6 9. An institution of higher education should not use funds for 7 purposes of this part that are dedicated for the benefit of the general 8 student body. 9 § 3. The education law is amended by adding a new section 679-h to 10 read as follows: 11 § 679-h. Collegiate athletic scholarship. 1. Definitions. As used in 12 this section: 13 (a) "Athletic association" means any organization that is responsible 14 for governing intercollegiate athletic programs. 15 (b) "Athletic program" means an intercollegiate athletic program at 16 any institution of higher education within the meaning of paragraph (d) 17 of this subdivision. 18 (c) "Graduation success rate" means the percentage of student athletes 19 who graduate from that institution of higher education within six years 20 of their initial enrollment, excluding outgoing transfers in good 21 academic standing with athletic eligibility remaining, and including 22 incoming transfers. The rate is to be calculated by combining the rates 23 of the four most recent classes that are available in the exact manner 24 as the rate is calculated under National Collegiate Athletic Association 25 rules. 26 (d) "Institution of higher education" means any campus of the state 27 university of New York, the city university of New York, community 28 colleges as defined in section sixty-three hundred one of this chapter 29 and any four-year private university located in New York, that maintains 30 an intercollegiate athletic program. 31 (e) "Media rights" means the rights to media coverage of intercollegi- 32 ate athletics included in contracts that are entered into by intercolle- 33 giate athletic conferences and television networks and that generate 34 monetary payments to individual institutions of higher education. 35 (f) "Student athlete" means any college student who participates in an 36 intercollegiate athletic program of an institution of higher education, 37 and includes student athletes who participate in basketball, football, 38 and other intercollegiate sports. 39 2. Scholarship. Commencing with the two thousand eighteen--two thou- 40 sand nineteen academic year, an athletic program shall comply with all 41 of the following: 42 (a) (1) If an athletic program does not renew an athletic scholarship 43 of a student athlete who suffers an incapacitating injury or illness 44 resulting from his or her participation in the athletic program, and the 45 institution of higher education's medical staff determines that he or 46 she is medically ineligible to participate in intercollegiate athletics, 47 the institution of higher education shall provide an equivalent scholar- 48 ship that, combined with the total duration of any previous athletic 49 scholarship or scholarships received by the student athlete, will be 50 provided for a total of up to five academic years or until the student 51 athlete completes his or her undergraduate degree, whichever period is 52 shorter. Additional years may be provided at the discretion of the 53 institution of higher education. 54 (2) If a student athlete takes a temporary leave of absence from an 55 institution of higher education, the duration of that leave of absence

A. 2834 3 1 shall not count against the five-year limit on eligibility for an equiv- 2 alent scholarship as provided in subparagraph one of this paragraph. 3 (3) An athletic program shall provide an equivalent scholarship to a 4 student athlete who was on an athletic scholarship and is in good stand- 5 ing, but has exhausted his or her athletic eligibility, for up to one 6 year or until the student athlete completes his or her primary under- 7 graduate degree, whichever is shorter; provided, however, that an 8 athletic program with a graduation success rate that is above sixty 9 percent, disaggregated by team, shall not be subject to the requirements 10 of this paragraph. 11 (4) A student athlete whose athletic scholarship is not renewed for 12 cause by an athletic program shall receive no benefits under this part, 13 but may appeal this decision within the institution of higher education 14 attended by the student or within the athletic conference or association 15 of which that institution of higher education is a member, as appropri- 16 ate. 17 3. Financial and life skills counseling. Each athletic program shall 18 conduct a financial and life skills workshop for all of its first-year 19 and third-year student athletes at the beginning of the academic year. 20 This workshop shall include, but not be limited to, information concern- 21 ing financial aid, debt management, and a recommended budget for full- 22 and partial-scholarship student athletes living on or off campus during 23 the academic year and the summer term based on the current academic 24 year's cost of attendance. The workshop shall also include information 25 on time management skills necessary for success as a student athlete, 26 and academic resources available on campus. 27 4. Disciplinary actions. An institution of higher education shall 28 grant a student athlete the same rights as other students with regard to 29 any and all matters related to possible adverse or disciplinary actions, 30 including, but not necessarily limited to, actions involving athlet- 31 ically related financial aid. 32 5. Request for transfer. An athletic program shall respond within 33 seven business days with an answer to a student athlete's written 34 request to transfer to another institution of higher education. 35 6. Insurance. (a) Unless a student athlete declines the payment of 36 premiums, an athletic program shall be responsible for paying the premi- 37 ums of each student athlete whose household has an income and asset 38 level that does not exceed the federal poverty level, as adjusted annu- 39 ally, for insurance covering claims resulting from the student athlete's 40 participation in the athletic program. 41 (b) An athletic program shall be responsible for paying the insurance 42 deductible amount applicable to the claim of any student athlete who 43 suffers an injury resulting from his or her participation in the athlet- 44 ic program and makes a claim relating to that injury. 45 (c) If a student athlete suffers an injury resulting from his or her 46 participation in the athletic program that requires ongoing medical 47 treatment, the athletic program shall provide, for a minimum of two 48 years following the student athlete's graduation or separation from the 49 institution of higher education, one of the following: 50 (1) all medical treatment necessary for treatment of the student 51 athlete's injury or condition; or 52 (2) health insurance in an amount sufficient to provide coverage for 53 all medical treatment necessary for treatment of the student athlete's 54 injury or condition, together with all resulting deductible amounts.

A. 2834 4 1 (d) The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to pre-existing 2 medical conditions that pre-date the student athlete's participation in 3 the athletic program. 4 7. Guidelines. An athletic program shall adopt and implement guide- 5 lines to prevent, assess, and treat sports-related concussions and dehy- 6 dration. In addition, an athletic program shall adopt and implement 7 exercise and supervision guidelines for any student athlete identified 8 with potentially life-threatening health conditions who participates in 9 an athletic program. 10 8. Applicability. (a) The provisions of this section shall not apply 11 to an institution of higher education that receives, as an average, less 12 than ten million dollars in annual income derived from media rights for 13 intercollegiate athletics. 14 (b) An institution of higher education subject to the provisions of 15 this section shall rely exclusively on revenue derived from media rights 16 for intercollegiate athletics to defray any costs accrued under this 17 section. 18 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be 19 deemed repealed on June 30, 2028.

Enacts the student athlete bill of rights

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