NC Legislators Reach Agreement on Controversial Bill Intended to Overhaul High School Athletics
Legislation moving through the NC legislator threatens the current makeup of the NCHSAA. Source: NCHSAA
On September 23rd, Republican legislators announced an agreement between legislators, the governor’s office, and the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) to pass controversial House Bill 91: Accountability and Fair Play in Athletics.
Originally intended to reduce regulatory constraints on behavior analysis of autism, Sen. Tom McInnis, R-Anson, employed a gut-and-replacement strategy to alter the bill’s sixth version after it initially passed the House. The resulting draft of the bill would have disbanded the 108-year old NCHSAA and replaced it with a committee of legislators to oversee North Carolina high school athletics.
McInnis has openly admitted that his objectives stem from personal grievances with the NCHSAA. Almost two years ago, Anson High School — located in McInnis’ district — was disqualified from the state football playoffs due to receiving more than three ejections in an on-field brawl, a violation of NCHSAA policy. McInnis led an unsuccessful appeal to have the Anson Bearcats reinstated. “I think it was subjective,” McInnis said of the NCHSAA’s decision. “I think they did it just because they could. Anson County is a small, rural school district ... those kids don't have a voice, but their senator has a voice, and this senator is not going to just stand idly by.”
Realizing that such a story would only gain local traction, McInnis and other senators investigated the NCHSAA further. Their movement began to garner attention as McInnis highlighted the organization’s massive amount of assets: a total of $41.2 million. To put that in perspective, Florida’s high school association, which serves the third most populous state in the country, has assets of about $6 million. Rep. John Bell, R-Wayne, says that such a large amount of money “raises serious and legitimate concerns for the legislature about transparency, accountability, and oversight.”
Despite Republican concerns with the NCHSAA’s oversight and amount of assets, McInnis’ desire to altogether abolish the organization and replace it with a committee of legislators was met with pushback from Democrats. Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, D-Wake, said that the sixth edition of the bill was a death penalty for the NCHSAA. “There is a perceived need to address the appeals process and whether the fines and penalties need to be restructured,” Chaudhuri acknowledged. “How to manage the NCHSAA and how to dedicate the endowment funds are certainly subjects ripe for discussion.” Sen. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford, expressed a similar sentiment and cautioned against interjecting politics into high school sports.
Taking this criticism into account, McInnis and his colleagues unveiled a seventh draft of the bill in late August. This new version would have allowed the NCHSAA to remain as authority for high school sports in North Carolina, but it would have drastically reduced the organization’s revenue. Annual fees of member schools would have been reduced by 20%, and the NCHSAA would have been prohibited from keeping more than 33% of revenue from any state tournament game. “There's been a lot of work that has been done on this bill since the last time we were before you," Sen. Vickie Sawyer (R-Iredell) said of the draft. "In this bill, we seek to reform, not to destroy.” The NCHSAA pushed back, saying that while they wanted to work with the legislature, they wanted to do so "without coercion, without political influence, so we can sit down together and make the changes that will benefit boys and girls from the mountains to the coast." Chaudari also expressed the same concerns he had with the bill’s previous version, saying that the seventh draft would also destroy the NCHSAA — just slower. Even Gov. Cooper commented on the bill, expressing uncertainty as to whether he would sign it if passed.
This continued pushback brought legislators from the House and Senate, representatives from the governor’s office, the State Board of Education, and the NCHSAA back together for yet another meeting. The result is the eighth version of House Bill 91, which Republicans hope will be the last. “We’re happy to report that after months of examining how best to support our student-athletes and high school athletics, we’ve come to an agreement,” the bill’s sponsors said. The NCHSAA released a more hesitant statement, saying that they still oppose the bill overall. The bill’s final language has yet to be released, but if passed and signed by Gov. Cooper, it could result in a complete overhaul of how high school sports are played and financed in North Carolina.