U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), one of the highest-ranking Republicans in the House, said Tuesday that she has introduced a bill that would prevent college athletes from being employees of their schools, conferences or an athletic association.
McClain said this during a hearing of the Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee. The hearing was about college sports, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the possible impacts of athletes becoming school employees.
McClain is the current House Republican Conference chair, which makes her the GOP’s No. 4-ranking member in the House. As Tuesday’s hearing concluded, subcommittee chair Rick Allen (R-Ga.) said: ‘It’s my hope that my committee colleagues will join this effort …’.
A release from McClain’s office after the hearing included a statement from full committee chair Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) that endorsed the legislation.
The bill comes as U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken weighs final approval of a proposed settlement of three athlete-compensation antitrust cases. It’s introduction also comes amid ongoing lobbying efforts by the NCAA and college conferences for national legislation that would keep athletes from being school employees; create a national framework for athletes’ activities to make money from their name, image and likeness; and grant the association and the schools at least some measure of protection from further antitrust suits.
Power Four conference and school officials and athletes are set to spend Wednesday visiting lawmakers’ offices in Washington in what is being billed as “College Sports Day on The Hill.”
McClain’s narrowly drawn bill appears similar to one that the Education and Workforce Committee passed last June in a party-line vote. That measure did not receive a vote on the House floor. It came against the backdrop of the NLRB becoming receptive during the Biden Administration to the idea of college athletes as school employees.
Following complaints filed on behalf of athletes, the NLRB pursued cases involving the University of Southern California and Dartmouth that ultimately could have led to college athletes becoming classified as employees and members of unions for collective bargaining with schools. Those efforts were abandoned in late 2024, as Biden’s presidency was winding down and athlete groups feared what could have been precedent-setting rulings against them by a full NLRB under the incoming Trump Administration.
The Trump Administration officially reversed the NLRB’s position on the matter in February.
McClain’s bill is titled the ‘‘Protecting Student Athletes’ Economic Freedom Act of 2025.’’ The four-page text includes just one operative paragraph, with the remainder devoted to definitions of terms used in that paragraph.
Efforts toward further, more comprehensive legislation are ongoing in the Senate. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who now chairs the Commerce Committee, continues to work from a discussion draft of a bill that has been in circulation since August 2023.
