House Judiciary Committee
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Bills discussed (2)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
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HB1061
· 6 mentions in chapter, transcript
Matched: “HB1061”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1051
· 2 mentions in transcript
Matched: “…ntinue with the regular agenda. We have House Bill 1061 and House Bill 1051 is scheduled to be on our calendar. I know a number of you…”
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Pre-2017 bill |
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And then we'll continue with the regular agenda. We have House Bill 1061 and House Bill 1051 is scheduled to be on our calendar. I know a number of you all are here. We're happy to see you, always happy to come to the House Bill this year. I think some of you are here for a special occasion, and that's House Bill 1051. Unfortunately, that bill will not be heard today as a special order. We have – Representative Altus has offered a member's own amendment to House Bill 1051,
so it is currently on the House's calendar, and it's also supposed to be on our calendar. Our rules clearly say a bill cannot be on two calendars at the same time. So since the bill is on member's own on the House calendar and has been read across the desk, we cannot hear the bill in this committee. This committee, unfortunately, does not have the power to suspend the entire House's rules We can suspend our rules, but not a House rule. So that bill will not be heard today. So if you are here to speak for or against House Bill 1051, that will not be heard today.
We will hear that at another time. And you're free to stay with us or you're free to go, whatever you like to do. But I just want to get it out of the way. Those
Speaker 2
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who are – Representative Saunders, you're here for 1061. You are recognized to present House Bill 1061. Mr.
Representative David J. Sanders
Unverified
1:32
Chairman, members of the committee, I thank you for the opportunity to be here, and I thank you for granting me a special order for House Bill 1061.
I'm happy to be joined by my friend, our Attorney General, Dustin McDaniel. You'll also hear from Athletic Director from the University of Arkansas, Jeff Long, and the UCA Athletic Director, Brad Teague. And I want to say thank you to those, to all three gentlemen, because this has been a process that we've been working on sort of independently for a little while, and then we came together. I became concerned about what was happening in collegiate sports this past summer. And those of you who follow the news know that there's a problem.
There's a problem in collegiate athletics today where we have agents and their intermediaries offering and arranging for material benefits for college athletes. Such transactions, such illegal transactions, obviously run afoul of the NCAA rules. This is what we read about in the sports pages. But what often is not realized is that is also an illegal activity according to our state law. In fact, 43, 42 other states have rules on the books against this.
The problem that we have seen is twofold. One, in terms of collegiate athletes and collegiate athletics, Oftentimes we read about the penalties that are handed down by the NCAA and what ends up happening. I always think of the case of the University of Southern California where you had a former Heisman Trophy winner who was getting wonderful benefits and his family was getting all these wonderful benefits. He leaves, the coach leaves, moves on to the NFL, yet when the NCAA hands their violation down, the new coach, the new players,
and by extension the fans, are the ones who are punished. and that's very troubling for me because I think in this case we have the one doing the crime not being punished and that is where the state comes in an analysis by the Associated Press earlier this year pointed out all the states that have on the books laws dealing with agents the problem is they're often not enforced and quite frankly the penalties are very, very weak
what the athlete agent Reform Act of 2011 does, is it cracks down on sports agents and individuals working for sports agents and other intermediaries who try to arrange full benefits for collegiate athletes. And this is important because the truth is, all of us can remember back to when we were 18, 19, 20. I see some on the committee that wasn't too long ago. and some of us it was a while back, and we're talking about impressionable young men and women.
The fact is we're only an impressionable student athlete and an unscrupulous agent or someone who's trying to profit from an athlete. We're only one bad decision away from collegiate sports in Arkansas being at risk. Now, certainly this is a national problem, and we're concerned about Arkansas. And as we read the rules and the laws of the land, what we're doing in this field,
by increasing the penalty from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class B felony, and expanding the definition of athlete agent, and also making those who engage in illegal behavior responsible for what they do. That's not in the law now. And also requiring pre-notification if there's some incidental contact or illegal contact from an athlete agent to a sports athlete at a school, requiring them to contact the athletic directors. That's new.
That's good. And I think the big one, and this is certainly where the Attorney General's jurisdiction comes in, if someone is prosecuted and found guilty of this, Increasing the penalty from $50,000 to $250,000 per violation, I think, turns up the volume immensely. And what it says in the last change would be to, if you're found guilty, that we would suspend your license for five years. Gentlemen and ladies, what this says, ladies, excuse me, what this says is we are not going to tolerate illegal behavior in the state of Arkansas.
We are going to protect the integrity of college athletics and collegiate athletes and by extension the fans and our institutions of higher education. I thank you for your time, I thank you for your consideration, and I will yield to the Attorney General, who will also have some introductory remarks, and then we will yield to, if the Chair is willing, we will yield to Director Long and Director Teague, and then we'll certainly
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be willing to entertain questions. Thank you,
Mr. Sanders. General McDaniel, welcome, and welcome back to this body.
We're always happy to have you. You are recognized to get testimony.
Speaker 9
6:40
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's a privilege to be back in Judiciary for the first time with you at the helm. I can assure you we've kept a close eye on the progress, and I think that you all are doing excellent work. And if we can be of service to you, I hope that you know that the Attorney General's office is at your service today and each day of the session. Last fall, this became an issue that reached my desk.
Some staff had brought it to my attention that, you know, Although we had enforcement authority, perhaps we didn't have enough teeth in the law. This predates some of the more headline-grabbing issues of last fall's football season. I frankly picked up, I didn't know if it was something that was a serious issue or not. And I picked up the phone, called my friend Jeff Long, who wrongfully and carelessly gave me his cell phone number when he first moved to Arkansas and asked if it was something that the universities thought that they needed some help with.
And the answer was yes, so we began working on it. I subsequently learned that Representative, at that time candidate David Sanders, also had an interest in it. So
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I was proud to combine forces. I think it's a well-written, very limited, narrow-scoped bill. It
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does, in fact, put skin in the game for those who are engaging in wrongful conduct. I do not think that under the current law there is enough deterrence to effectively reach the decision-making process of someone who may be in Miami driving a Ferrari and reaching out to young athletes all over the United States.
If they get caught under current law, most, if not all, of the consequences fall to the university, the student, the fan base. You know, I grew up in Jonesboro, which is a college town, and game day is a big day economically for our community. I went to the University of Arkansas. I'm a proud Razorback, and I know what game days are in northwest Arkansas. So there is an economic reality for people who own restaurants and sell T-shirts and make their living related to our enthusiasm.
so I don't think that they should stand the risk for someone who's engaging in illegal conduct from outside the state. Of course, the reality is I came to the sad realization that I was never going to see my name on the ticker on ESPN through my athletic prowess, so when we made this part of the Attorney General's package, I finally had a dream come true. So I am very glad to be here today and glad to have the opportunity to work with Representative Sanders and the athletic directors. Today we have U of A and UCA.
Assuming that we get a good vote out of this committee and out of the floor, I think that the athletic director from Arkansas State University will be with us on the Senate end. So we would appreciate a good vote and certainly will yield to other presenters. Thank
Representative Darrin Williams
Unverified
9:39
you, General McDaniel. Representative Sanders, who else would you like to –
Representative David J. Sanders
Unverified
9:42
I would like to ask Athletic Director Jeff Long from the University of Arkansas to come and join us here. And then following him, I thought it was Director Bradke. That's good to see you as well.
Representative Darrin Williams
Unverified
10:00
Thank you. Director Long, thank you for being here. Welcome to House Judiciary. You are
Speaker 18
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recognized to provide testimony. Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is an honor and a privilege to be here with you today and have an opportunity to speak to House Bill 1061. Let me first begin by saying how much I appreciate that Representative Sanders and Attorney General McDaniel reached out to the universities and asked for our advice and counsel on this bill. Certainly we see this as a high priority for us in intercollegiate athletics. As both of the previous speakers mentioned, we don't have to look very far just the last
football season to see what happened at ACC institutions and other Southeastern Conference institutions to see what unscrupulous agents can do to a football program in a season in many respects. So this is a problem for us. And while, as Representative Sanders mentioned, 42 states have legislation, have laws regarding sports agents, they really do lack the kind of teeth in the bills, in the laws to effect
change. there's little deterrent and little penalties for those sports agents and their runners, so to speak. Certainly we're penalized and enforced by the NCAA. They penalize the institution. They penalize the student athletes with ineligibility. So they certainly have repercussions for the institutions, their athletic programs, and the individual student athletes who engage in illegal activity. But where we see the deficiency is in what responsibility and what actions can be taken
against those agents. And we believe House Bill 1061 here does put teeth in the Arkansas bill. It expands the definition of an agent, expands the penalties if convicted. And it also, as Representative Sanders said, requires the notification. We as athletic directors feel if we're notified that an agent wants to contact a student-athlete, that's a good thing for us because then we can make sure we're part of that education, continue the education process because we all do a great deal of education with our
own student-athletes, what's legal and not legal. But it also gives us a chance to intervene and make sure those families and those student-athletes know what's allowed to be involved with when they're contacted by an agent. So we feel this bill really does add strength to the bill in the current law. We applaud the state for having the law on the books. As we know, not all states do. But we do think this will add that deterrent factor, give us the notification we need to make sure that we've educated our student-athletes properly.
And allows us to be leaders. Because I do think once we pass this bill in this state, other states will seek to toughen their penalties against agents. Thank you. Thank you, Director Longwood. If you don't
mind staying there, we may have questions after Athletic Director Teague comes to present. Director, welcome to
House Judiciary. You are recognized to provide a testimony.
Speaker 23
13:14
Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the committee. I am Brad Teague, Athletic Director at the University of Central Arkansas, And I, too, very much appreciate the opportunity to present to you today. Certainly, our previous speakers have made some great points. Mr. Long, obviously, has a big issue at the University of Arkansas with athlete agents. What I want you to understand also from maybe a smaller shop, we certainly have professional athletes from UCA, as well as the rest of the universities in Arkansas. We all have an issue. And I'll tell you what's a little bit different from the University of Arkansas is that our rules compliance office is much smaller than the SEC-sized schools in the major conferences.
So we are not able to police these agents as well, possibly, as the others. Now, certainly, they have more professional student-athlete opportunities, yet they have more policemen as well, and we don't. So this Bill 1061, we certainly support and will help us in recognizing when these agents want to contact our student-athletes and, yes, help in that education process of both the agent and the student-athlete. Now, there are many great character agents, agents with great character, but then there are some with not so much great character.
So we want to be assured that we have the opportunity to educate our kids. A couple of other points. You know, the NCAA is very, very serious about amateurism. They have very strict rules. And when student athletes and agents have communications, it certainly jeopardizes their amateurism status. And if there is a contract, an agreement, then they are rendered, the student athlete is rendered ineligible immediately. So the fact that this bill would require, within 72 hours or prior to the next contest,
us knowing about any agreement with a student athlete and an agent, then we are able to sit that student athlete out prior to that contest, which then we would not suffer further implications from the NCAA. So this is a very serious matter. And certainly the institution is penalized, the student athlete is penalized, and unfortunately the agents just move on to their next prospective client, and that's unfair. So UCA supports this bill wholeheartedly, and we appreciate you guys listening to us, and we hope you'll move forward in the process
thank you very pretty are there any questions for the
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
15:43
presenters mr walker you recognize for question
thank you mr chairman i have several uh... is there an impact statement prepared to show
Representative David J. Sanders
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15:56
the nature uh... and severity of the problem as it exists in the state of arkansas
we do have an impact statement prepared by the arkansas sentencing commission
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
16:09
the sentencing commission i have that uh... can you tell me uh... this idea goes to the two direct athletic directors How many people have been identified in the last five to ten years as agents seeking to
influence the students of the universities that you represent? That's the impact that I'm concerned about. Do you have anybody identified? Or is this just something that you, based on the Cam Newton situation, know to be a problem and you don't want
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it replicated in Arkansas? Well, I would address it by saying this, Representative Walker, that over the years, we've had numerous student-athletes who have engaged with sports agents, some of them legally within the rules, but others who have not.
And certainly, there are very few people going by some of the rules that are currently in place. For example, I think we probably had, and this is a rough estimate, probably six student-athletes off of our football team hire agents. I believe currently our rules would say that they need to notify the athletic director that they had made contact. Well, I got notification of one. And so I think, I don't know if I'm answering your question, but I think that's a small
indication of the fact that there are rules in place that they aren't being followed and they aren't a significant deterrent in place to cause these people to take the appropriate action.
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
17:55
From what you see, it seems that the concern, Mr. Chair, it seems like the concern here is the athlete giving notice at university, that's one thing, and of course you can deal with that by other rules than criminalizing some behavior and then having to go through
a trial that's very extensive and costly. Second thing to the impact statement, I mean I'm still, I'd still like to know what number of people. I remember some years ago during the time the do-right rule, we knew that there were a lot of people in the state of Arkansas who were giving money to athletes. I mean, they gave cars, they still do, they give rides, they give three tickets, all kinds of things. So the question is, I mean, do you have any
documentary evidence, rather than anecdotal evidence, to establish the severity of the problem in Arkansas? Here's my concern so you'll understand. Many of you athletes are from out of state this is a rule that can be enforced only in the state as i understand it so the person makes a contact with the florida athlete and that person is anticipating coming to the university of arkansas uca or some other school you have no jurisdiction over that person unless that person has some contact with arkansas
so that to me suggests that this perhaps would be better to be national rather than a local law because you can talk about the agent but you can't bring that person within the state unless he has some significant direct contact with the agent and with the student in the state would you agree i
Representative David J. Sanders
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19:32
would i would simply point this out walker one of the requirements to operate in the state of arkansas as an athlete agent is that you register with the secretary of state but what
Representative John W. Walker
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19:41
if you put what if you are registered and that's the concern that if you are registered and you make the contact
on behalf of someone who is and even you have to establish that you're making that kind but that's a burden of proof i'm trying to concern i'm trying to see how you can force this across the board or is it simply something on paper here's the other thing i don't want to take all the time but does this also um... address lawyers because a lot of the people who are actually agents are lawyers and they don't register and lawyers become
representatives in a various number of ways a number of people that your respective places get arrested and they arrested sometimes for very manner offenses but the students when they are arrested if they're good athletes they become beholden to those lawyers and therefore that they may become uh... they may they may have the circumstances involved into an agent type relationship without any way of you being able to look behind it because of the attorney-client relationship.
Speaker 38
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Well, if I may, first of all, we have two separate issues that have been raised in
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your questions. With regard to students that are considering attending a university, that's really not the focus of this bill. Whether or not a student is being lured to a university or is attempting to sell himself or herself to a university, this is really more for those who are already NCAA athletes and who are being recruited and sought after to potentially go pro. Those agents do have to register.
We have at least one registered in Arkansas that I know of with
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the NFL, and I think Mr. Sanders may have uncovered more, and they are lawyers. To the extent that I do not expect anybody to ever go to prison under this statute. It's clearly white-collar crime. It clearly would be on the lowest grade. It's nonviolent, Class D. I mean, at worst, somebody would
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get probation. But if you are an attorney, as you well know, even a Class D felony means you have to forfeit your license,
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your ability to register both in this state and any other state. So if you are a Florida lawyer who contacts an Arkansas student in an improper way to try to recruit and pitch that student to a California football NFL team, if you violate these rules, you're now risking very little. If
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you pass this bill, you're risking your entire career. And so it is a substantial deterrent in our opinion.
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
22:17
Well, the other concern that I had, Mr. Chair,
was that it was a white-collar crime.
And, of course, I'm of the view that there shouldn't be white-collar crimes for which there are different penalties. Why is it that you haven't at least put the possibility of jail time on these people who offend the law so that they can at least be treated as well as somebody who doesn't pay a $250 fine for simply showing up in court and being found guilty on something. There's another
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bill before the body is. I think we've reached a very reasonable policy balance in it,
and I would like to see it passed. And if you or any other member of the General Assembly believe that penalties should be enhanced for some sort of parity with other white-collar crimes. I mean, I think that this committee would hear that amendment. Well,
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
23:14
the only concern I have is that for the state to recognize the white-collar crimes and not to be punished as other crimes, that sends a terrible message to people of the state. It says that there are different categories of people and they should be treated differently.
I mean, we know the reality, but in terms of being a matter of state policy, I have some problem with it. I'm going to vote for this, but I find that it's probably overreaching and it's a policy that simply stems a wrong message to say that white-collar crimes are to be treated less stringently than simple crimes such as a hot check. Mr. Walker, let
me make sure I understand you here. Do you recognize that this legislation would provide for a Class B felony?
Are you suggesting that should be a higher felony? Because that is a – that takes care of the
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
24:11
sentence of imprisonment, possibility of imprisonment. Well, what I – but I understand that it carries with it that possibility, but the Attorney General has spoken and said that it's really not something that anyone intends to make a real crime by uh... that uh... that and to send a message that message uh... as the legislation is being proposed
is questionable i figured that you can always do it but i let it be known to begin with that this is real serious and people can go to jail and when people violate the law they they don't want to be treated the same way whether they are high check offenders or whether they are persons who address who put the University of Arkansas in jeopardy with the NCAA with respect to a student-athlete. Thank
you, Mr. Walker. I understand. I would leave the
prosecutorial authority to the prosecutors. I'm sure they will make a determination of what to charge, but I just want to make sure I understood your comment here. Next on our list is Mr. Hammer.
Representative Kim Hammer
Unverified
25:20
Thank you, Mr. Chair. A minute ago, Attorney General McDaniels, you had referenced, if I didn't take the words out of context, that this bill is focused toward athlete agents. Could you, or Representative Sanders, would you give me an education where in this bill,
or if it's located maybe some other law, where the coaches, the coaches' staff, or school personnel are held accountable to the same expectations that this bill has
Speaker 50
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if they are found to be involved with these student athletes? What accountability is there for the
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coaches? Is your question if a coach becomes an agent for an agent, meaning that they are acting on behalf of
Representative Kim Hammer
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26:01
an agent in violation of this section? No, I'm asking if a coach, if
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it is determined that a coach knowingly participated,
indirectly or directly, with an athlete agent, and all the punishment is on the athlete agent, Where is there, are there laws, is there a law now, is it addressed in this one that holds the coach or anybody affiliated with the coach and school accountable to the level we're holding these individuals? And I just
Representative David J. Sanders
Unverified
26:31
need to be educated on that. Representative Hammer, it does two things. One, this bill expands the definition of athlete agent. Two, it makes illegal activity apply across the board.
It doesn't matter if it's a coach. it doesn't matter if it's a financial advisor it doesn't matter if it's an uncle who's engaging in illegal behavior of trying to arrange for or provide a material benefit to an athlete agent we felt that that was a great need because i don't know that we can anticipate everyone who would or would not be involved in trying to provide for or arrange for an illegal benefit so the answer is if there is a coach on an athletic staff who is trying to provide
for provide or arrange for a financial benefit for a amateur athlete he or she would be in violation of the law and would be
Speaker 50
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prosecuted okay thank you mr. chairman I just
want to clarify and make sure that was covered in this
Representative Gary Deffenbaugh
Unverified
27:36
thank you thank you mr. hammer any additional questions thank you mr. chair I won't talk my question won't be in lawyer lingo be coaching lingo be quick how on the subject of a person like a dad that was
accused of being basically an agent to his son at Auburn. My question is, it seems like it'd be pretty easy to keep up with agents. They've got to register, and I'm really in agreement with this bill. Any idea on how you're going to keep up with parents or uncles, ants, et cetera, and, you know, how would you supervise that?
And then the second question is, I think it's been answered, but basically if they are found guilty of being an agent, they're going to, they could suffer the same penalty as a regular sports
Representative David J. Sanders
Unverified
28:44
agent. That's correct. Currently the law only applies to registered agents, of which we have 53 in the state of Arkansas. What this bill does is expands it to include the behavior. The illegal behavior would apply.
And, you know, obviously it has been referenced here in the situation with Cameron Newton, the quarterback at Auburn, and certainly what has happened there. You know, Representative DeFball, I don't know how you go about, you know, tracking that down, but I think news has a way of coming out. And what this does is if there are allegations of illegal behavior taking place, then the prosecutor in our state of Arkansas, the prosecutor has the power,
and the prosecutor would have the ability to go after the illegal behavior and the illegal conduct if it is alleged. That's what this bill does. That's not able to be done currently. If this little bill becomes law, that's what will happen. also I have authority under
Speaker 40
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the existing statute and would under this statute which obviously would be for civil penalties which would be increased under this statute but you would have to exercise a great deal of discretion and you'd have to engage in some real fact-finding obviously parents are going to influence their kids and no one no one wants to criminalize that the center
just a quick question here they're looking I'm on page two of the bill lines 10 through 17 does that section exempt out family members from the definition of definite athlete agent and I thought you just said they
Representative David J. Sanders
Unverified
30:25
were included it explain that exempts out and let me tell you you'll read at the bottom of page 17 this this exempts out a parent who's trying to advocate on behalf of a of a student to get to get a scholarship we had some discussions early on and I'll
I'll commend the attorney general and his staff, when working through this bill, we didn't want to put in harm's way the parent who was complying with the law, complying with NCAA regulations, so they would be exempt in that case. However, if there is a legal activity taking place, then they would fall within the law. But if a parent is – and, in fact, I had a mother call me from northwest Arkansas. She was very proud of her son, who was a linebacker at Shiloh Christian, who stood to get a college scholarship.
And she said, you know, we're actively seeking this out. We put a tape together. We're doing things that would benefit our son. And I just want to be sure that I don't run afoul the law should your bill become law. And I assure her that we anticipated that, and that would not be the case under this
Representative Darrin Williams
Unverified
31:35
law. Thank you, Representative Sanders. I believe Representative Walker had another question. Representative Powers.
Representative David "Bubba" Powers
Unverified
31:48
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Representative Sanders, I'm going to support this bill and vote for it. but just kind of been hitting around, I think you mentioned the term intermediaries that hangers on, people that associate themselves with an athlete. That pretty much envelops anyone. Am I wrong in
Representative David J. Sanders
Unverified
32:13
interpreting that? Well, it does, and what this bill does is expands the net to include it.
And let me, if I might, give you an example of what we're trying to go after. And I would certainly defer to the athletic directors to deal with this more specifically. But what we know are there are instances in which a said agent will go to an institution of higher education and will identify an individual who is friends with or who knows one of the athletes in question. And what essentially happens is said agent will go to this runner is the term that's often used to say, you have one job and one job only.
I want you to get close to athlete X. Your job is to get him to sign with me. I will give you whatever you need in terms of finances, cars, clothing, whatever, in order to make that happen. And as a result, you'll get a cut of it. That's what we're really going after, representative powers. That's a big problem. If you read sort of the literature, the commentators, the sports analysts, you talk to the athletic directors, that's a very real danger, and it's happening today.
Speaker 68
33:32
And I don't necessarily disagree with anything you say. Now, I'm not
Representative David "Bubba" Powers
Unverified
33:38
as up on my NCAA rules as I should be. I'm certain of that. But the athletic director could certainly tell me, am I correct in assuming that an athlete at either institution that you represent can't have contact with an agent prior to their eligibility running out or their declaration that they intend to turn professional? Is that pretty much the gist
Speaker 62
34:05
of when an agent can contact that athlete?
Speaker 18
34:09
Actually, they can have contact. They just can't enter into an agreement, either verbal or written, to represent them. So there is opportunities for contact. It's when they offer illegal inducements for the services or when they enter into a
Speaker 33
34:23
contract that makes it illegal by NCAA rule. And that's what's problematic because there
Speaker 23
34:32
to the six who signed agreements last year. There were probably 30 who had contact with agents. And that's what is very concerning.
So when there's contact, how far does that go? And that's what's hard to police. So this bill will certainly help us in deterring
Speaker 51
34:48
that contact. And hopefully they'll wait until the student-athletes finishes their eligibility before they have
Speaker 72
34:55
some kind of communication. Similar to lobbyists. Mr. Chair,
Speaker 23
34:59
if I may, just a couple more comments. The NCAA, and this is in regard to our coaches and our staff who are employed by our institutions, The NCAA requires language in those contracts which states the coach, assistant coach, staff members will not violate any NCAA rule or they will be punished by loss of employment.
So in Representative Hammer's question regarding the coach, they will be fired. They will lose their employment because of that clause. Further, if they do violate this new bill, then they could be prosecuted.
Speaker 68
35:35
And let me just follow up, and finally I'll say this. And
Representative David "Bubba" Powers
Unverified
35:40
I asked a question about NCAA rules. Philosophical question, what responsibility does the athlete bear here? They
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35:48
bear a tremendous amount of responsibility.
Speaker 18
35:52
They certainly are educated and made aware of what is legal and is not legal, and they lose their eligibility, which means they lose their scholarship if they're caught to be involved in illegal activity. So that's their opportunity. Let me add to Director Teague that in our complicated world of coaches contracts these days, we certainly have clauses that would allow them to be removed for cause, which means they could be terminated immediately without any further pay. So for cause is certainly a real deterrent for our coaches and staff for not entering in,
to not performing acts that make
Speaker 77
36:29
them an agent, because if they meet the definition of an agent, then they're subject to
Speaker 78
36:36
this law as well. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Speaker 3
36:43
Representative Branscombe, he had a question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Does this law pertaining like you've got it written, does it help minimize or lessen the impact, let's say a student athlete is caught with an agent and then he's fined or barred? Does the NCAA look more friendly upon
Speaker 80
36:59
the institution to lessen sanctions if Arkansas
has a law like this? I would have no bearing on it, Russell
Representative Darrin Williams
Unverified
37:06
Weber. I don't believe that would have a bearing on it, sir. Representative
Speaker 46
37:12
Vines, do you have a question? Thank you. Representative Hammer, do you have an
Representative Kim Hammer
Unverified
37:19
additional question? I just want you to know I'm in favor of this, and I also want you to know I'm not a lawyer on the basis of what he said a while ago. But my question is, on page 4, and it's a matter of purpose of understanding, and I really appreciate this because I think it will level the playing field
and hold higher accountability, which for the coaches that are playing by the rules, it will give them additional benefits, I think. But on Section 5 down there at letter B, page 4 toward the bottom, it says an athlete agent who violates that code is guilty of a Class D felony. and then it says an athlete agent who violates that code B is guilty of Class A misdemeanor. Is it possible? Can you tell me the difference between the two because I can't find that 114B?
And the reason I'm asking this question is if a coach or anybody affiliated with the school or coaching staff, could they be charged acting as an athlete agent as a misdemeanor and escape the responsibility of a Class D felony that would get them fired?
Speaker 10
38:21
114B is in a code, it's just not replicated in the bill as being germane to the bill, so we'd
Speaker 40
38:27
have to go and that's a completely separate subsection if we were going to try and explore it and the implications. We're not impacting 114B here.
Representative David J. Sanders
Unverified
38:36
And what we wanted to do was be very clear. We wanted
to punish the illegal behavior of providing material benefit or arranging material benefit. That subsection B covers things like, you know, you will register with the Secretary state's office to to be an athlete agent that certainly doesn't arise if you neglect to do that that certainly doesn't arise to the level of a felony that's what we kept it
Speaker 15
38:55
and separated it out okay thank you mr chairman thank you president hammer i had some of
Representative Darrin Williams
Unverified
39:00
the question i actually wouldn't pull the code and he's exactly right it relates more to uh registration requirements and
not uh particularly to this bill if you'd like to read it i have it here anyone in the audience want to speak for
Representative Darrin Williams
Unverified
39:19
or against this legislation Seeing no one, what's
the – well, actually, I have a – well, I think Representative Shepard settled me first here. Representative Shepard, I recognize you
for a motion. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move to pass. Proper motion. Committee, the motion before us is a motion of do pass.
Representative Darrin Williams
Unverified
39:39
All those in favor, aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Congratulations, Mr.
Speaker 44
39:47
Saunders. You have passed your bill. Thank
Speaker 88
39:54
you, Chairman. Thank you, Committee. Thank you.
Representative Darrin Williams
Unverified
40:18
audience, would you please take your conversation outside so we can continue our meeting? If you could exit quietly, we'd appreciate it. Yeah,
Speaker 45
40:42
no, no, nobody loves us. They're not here to see us.
Representative Darrin Williams
Unverified
40:48
Senator Wilkins, I mean Representative Wilkins is in another committee. He is not here and prepared to run any of his bills. I don't see any other
member here prepared to run a bill. Is there someone here prepared to run one of our bills on a regular agenda? Anyone else?
I think because we had a special order set, folks thought we would not get to their bills today. So, members, we're going to get a rare occasion to take an hour and ten minutes off. So we are adjourned. There's no further business before this committee. Thank you.
Agenda
Documents
No documents posted.
Speakers
Representative Matthew Shepherd Chair
Unverified
Speaker 2
Representative David J. Sanders
Unverified
Speaker 7
Speaker 9
Speaker 10
Representative Darrin Williams
Unverified
Speaker 18
Speaker 23
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
Speaker 33
Speaker 38
Speaker 40
Representative Kim Hammer
Unverified
Speaker 50
Representative Gary Deffenbaugh
Unverified
Representative David "Bubba" Powers
Unverified
Speaker 68
Speaker 62
Speaker 70
Speaker 51
Speaker 72
Speaker 76
Speaker 77
Speaker 78
Speaker 3
Speaker 80
Speaker 46
Speaker 15
Speaker 44
Speaker 88
Speaker 45