A college sports bill burrowing through the Wisconsinstate legislature could shield all financial records involving the University of Wisconsin’s athletics department and those of other public institutions in the state.
Such is the warning from transparency advocates over Assembly Bill 1034, which passed the lower chamber last month by a 95-1 vote. A companion measure, Senate Bill 1075, is now pending in the Wisconsin state Senate, where last week it received a public hearing before the committee on government operations, labor and economic development.
The legislation is designed to align state law with the House v. NCAA settlement by establishing the right of the University of Wisconsin System to pay college athletes for their NIL. The bill would also increase state funding to cover debt service for maintenance of certain athletic facilities at UW, UW-Milwaukee and UW-Green Bay. Lastly, it would make explicit that athletes who sign revenue-sharing deals with private institutions like Marquette would not be rendered employees of those schools as a result.
The bill has been strongly endorsed by UW, which has argued that it is necessary to help ensure its athletic programs remain competitive amidst the “volatility in college athletics.”