HR 1804 The Student-Athlete Equity Act

Text of the bill introduced by Rep. Mark Walker [R-NC-6] on 03/14/2019
for himself and Rep. Cecil L. Richmond [D-LA-2]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1804

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to prohibit qualified amateur sports organizations from prohibiting or substantially restricting the use of an athletes name, image, or likeness, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 14, 2019
Mr. Walker (for himself and Mr. Richmond) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to prohibit qualified amateur sports organizations from prohibiting or substantially restricting the use of an athletes name, image, or likeness, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Student-Athlete Equity Act”.

SEC. 2. MODIFICATION TO DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED AMATEUR SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS.

(a) In General.—Section 501(j)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding after the period at the end the following: “Such term does not include an organization that substantially restricts a student athlete from using, or being reasonably compensated for the third party use of, the name, image, or likeness of such student athlete.”.

(b) Effective Date.—The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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If this becomes law (to date no further actions have been taken on it; see www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1804/actions ) the NCAA will not be considered a Qualified Amateur Sports Organization (QASO) for IRS purposes if it does not comply with the new law. Any federal tax benefits that would normally accrue to QASOs would be lost to the NCAA, as it would be considered a regular business organization.

Hmmmm...

For the record, as best I can tell Rep. Walker's North Carolina Congressional District 6 does NOT include:

Chapel Hill (tarred ones)
Raleigh (NC State)
Durham (puke)
Winston-Salem (Wake Forest)
or any other city/town containing a Division 1 basketball or football program

Map of NC 6 CD