Pass Act aims to protect athletes, 'integrity' of college sports - ESPN

For the second time in the past week, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators proposed a federal law that would regulate how college athletes are allowed to make money and reshape the healthcare they are guaranteed to receive from schools.

Sens. Tommy Tuberville and Joe Manchin introduced the Pass Act of 2023 on Tuesday, calling it a year-long effort that they hope «strikes a balance between protecting the rights of student-athletes and maintaining the integrity of college sports.»

The bill is the first to be introduced this summer, but it joins other drafts of similar legislation shared by members of both the Senate and the House in recent months.

Federal lawmakers have proposed more than a dozen bills to reform college sports in the past three years, but thus far none has made it beyond the first step in the legislative process. Leaders from the NCAA, its most powerful conferences and many of its schools have traveled to Washington this summer to try to convince Congress to act. They say that the current lack of a nationwide standard has created a «race to the bottom» among state legislatures that are passing laws designed to try to give teams in their state a competitive advantage in recruiting.

Along with creating a national law for NIL deals, the Pass Act would also require schools to provide health coverage for sports-related injuries for eight years after athletes finish their college eligibility. Athletic departments that generate more than $20 million annually would also be required to cover out-of-pocket medical costs for two years after an athlete's playing career. Athletic departments that generate more than $50 million annually would have to cover four years of out-of-pocket expenses.

The bill also seeks to