Piper Hutchinson | Louisiana Illuminator
Opponents of a bill to shield how Louisiana’s public universities spend their revenue on college athletes warn it’s a slippery slope, as it would be the first time the state hides how public money is spent from public view.
The House and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced House Bill 608 by Rep. Tehmi Chassion, D-Lafayette, on a 9-3 vote Tuesday. The bill would create a new public records exemption to conceal how much public money universities pay directly to student athletes. The payments are allowed under new “revenue-sharing” rules implemented after the NCAA settled a lawsuit last year brought by student-athletes seeking compensation.
Chassion’s bill was amended in the House Education Committee earlier this month to also exempt how much colleges spend on individual teams. LSU’s athletics department has since come under fire from its fans who have criticized the university for not investing enough money in its baseball roster.
Following the backlash, LSU athletics director Verge Ausberry committed to increasing the baseball team’s revenue-sharing percentage.
Members of the committee seemed to not understand the difference between revenue sharing — which is paid directly from universities to athletes with public money — and name, image and likeness deals, which are between student athletes and private companies. NIL deals are already exempt from disclosure under existing public records law.
The money used to pay student athletes comes from public sources. It is a mix of funding from self-generated revenue such as ticket sales, state dollars and, at some campuses, student fees.
There are currently no exemptions in Louisiana law for sharing records with the public that show how state money is spent.
Opponents of the bill cautioned against setting a precedent with Chassion’ bill.
“It is a very slippery slope on which you are climbing,” First Amendment attorney Scott Sternberg, who is representing the Illuminator, WAFB-TV and Tiger Rag in a lawsuit against LSU for deny a request for its revenue-sharing records.
Though Chassion’s bill is not yet in effect, LSU and every other public university in Louisiana with a Division I athletics program have denied the Illuminator’s request for their revenue sharing records citing existing exemptions to public records disclosure in state law. WAFB and Tiger Rag have also made the same request to LSU and were refused.
Steven Procopio, president of the good government group Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, said Chassion’s bill conflicts with the ability for citizens to know how their money is being spent at public universities.
“I think it is very hard to make the argument that public tax dollars, or any public dollars, should not be transparent. And to be really clear about this, most of higher education is not funded by tax dollars,” Procopio said.
“If the school is paying the athlete a million dollars to play football as a wide receiver, then the public has a right to it as public money, OK?” Rep. Wilford Carter, D-Lake Charles, said. “And so what we’re seeking to do here … is denying the public information about public money.”
Proponents of the bill argued it is necessary for Louisiana schools to maintain a competitive advantage with teams in other states that already shield this information and to protect student athletes.
Sternberg pushed back on the idea that releasing the information could create a competitive disadvantage, pointing out that universities have up to five business days to even acknowledge a public records request, which would not be enough time for a competing program to get the information and use it in negotiations.
In practice, it often takes weeks or months to obtain information in a public records request.
Rep. Candace Newell, D-New Orleans, said her nephew is a college athlete at LSU, and she supported the bill because she wants to protect him and other student athletes who she believes might be targeted if people know how much they earn.
“He’s a child, and no one needs to know how much money he makes because although he’s a great athlete, very smart young man, and he’s made money, he’s not that mature,” Newell said. “People come and they do things and try to manipulate these children, follow them, put them in all kinds of danger.”
The move to hide how public money is being spent on college athletes comes as higher education officials in Louisiana acknowledge the detrimental impact athletics spending has had on campus budgets and as lawmakers call for increased scrutiny of university finances.
Chassion’s bill also adds to lawmakers’ efforts in recent years to expand exemptions to Louisiana’s public records law, which exists to provide transparency into policy and spending decisions in state government and all of its offshoots, including higher education. Several pieces of legislation have been filed this year to create or widen public records exemptions.
While LSU barely turns a profit on sports, the overwhelming majority of athletic departments in Louisiana are bleeding money. This includes the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where its $10 million athletics deficit is a major contributing factor to the school’s nearly $50 million budget hole. The school has budgeted $726,000 to pay directly to athletes this year.
All public Division I athletic departments in Louisiana, including LSU, will also start receiving approximately $2 million annually in gambling tax revenue this year. While that money can’t be used to directly pay college athletes, lawmakers noted it would free up money in the budget to pay student athletes.
Chassion disputed that the gambling tax revenue was actually taxpayer money.
Procopio pointed out that the public is currently entitled to information on student salaries in other university departments, including students who are paid through research grants awarded by private companies, as all money that flows through any state university is public money.
Chassion was joined in presenting his bill by Julie Cromer, LSU’s deputy athletics director. Also present from LSU were general counsel Trey Jones, two vice presidents and two lobbyists affiliated with the LSU Foundation.