AN ACT relating to postsecondary education.

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AN ACT relating to postsecondary education. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS 164.6941 TO 164.6951 IS 3
CREATED TO READ AS FOLLOWS: 4
(1) For the purposes of this section: 5
(a) "Athletics coach" or "coach" means an employee of an institution or an 6
institution's agent whose duties include the mana gement or operation of an 7
institution's intercollegiate athletics team; 8
(b) "Council" means the Council on Postsecondary Education; 9
(c) "Intercollegiate athletics compensation" means any compensation, whether 10
through a contract or not, given to a student-athlete or athletics coach: 11
1. For the use of the name, image, or likeness of a student -athlete or 12
coach; or 13
2. To compensate the student -athlete or coach for participating in 14
intercollegiate athletics; and 15
(d) "Intercollegiate athletics enterprise" or "enterprise" means a person or 16
entity that provides student -athletes or coaches with intercollegiate athletics 17
compensation. 18
(2) (a) An inte rcollegiate athletics enterprise that provides a cumulative sum of 19
more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) in intercollegiate athletics 20
compensation in any calendar year to coaches and student -athletes shall 21
register with the council as an intercollegiate athletics enterprise within five 22
(5) days of meeting the amount. 23
(b) An enterprise may proactively register with the council prior to exceeding 24
the one thousand dollar ($1,000) threshold. 25
(3) Upon registration under subsection (2) of this section, the coun cil shall issue the 26
intercollegiate athletics enterprise a certificate of registration, and the enterprise 27
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may continue to engage in intercollegiate athletics compensation in compliance 1
with the laws of the Commonwealth, including this section, and may ren ew the 2
registration annually. 3
(4) An applicant for registration as an intercollegiate athletics enterprise shall 4
submit an application to the council in a form prescribed by the council and shall 5
include necessary information for the enforcement of this section. 6
(5) The council may refuse to issue a certificate of registration to an applicant that 7
has previously violated this section or engaged in conduct that significantly 8
adversely reflects on the applicant's fitness to engage in intercollegiate athletics 9
compensation. 10
(6) Each registered intercollegiate athletics enterprise shall: 11
(a) Quarterly report to the council all contracts entered into with student -12
athletes and coaches, the institution at which the student -athlete is enrolled 13
or coach is employed, and the amounts of intercollegiate athletics 14
compensation provided to each student-athlete and coach; and 15
(b) By April 15 of each year, pay an annual registration fee to the council equal 16
to ten percent (10%) of all intercollegiate athletics compensation t hat the 17
enterprise provided to student-athletes and coaches in the previous year. 18
The council may establish financial penalties for failure to comply with this 19
subsection. 20
(7) The department shall deposit all fees and penalties into a restricted account 21
established under Section 2 of this Act. The moneys in the account shall be 22
divided into amounts for each postsecondary institution based on that 23
institution's portion of the intercollegiate athletics compensation to all 24
intercollegiate athletics compensation reported. 25
SECTION 2. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 164 IS CREATED TO 26
READ AS FOLLOWS: 27
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(1) The Council on Postsecondary Education shall establish a restricted account to 1
receive the fees and penalties paid in accordance with Section 1 of this Act. The 2
moneys shall be divided as required in subsection (7) of Section 1 of this Act and 3
distributed to postsecondary institutions in accordance with this section. 4
(2) Each public postsecondary institution and each postsecondary institution licensed 5
by the council that participates in intercollegiate athletics as defined in KRS 6
164.6941 shall establish a scholarship program in compliance with this section 7
using the funds identified for that institution in Section 1 of this Act. 8
(3) To be eligible for an institution's scholarship, a student shall: 9
(a) Be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States; 10
(b) Be a Kentucky resident as determined by the institution in accordance with 11
criteria established by the council for the purp oses of admission and tuition 12
assessment; 13
(c) Be enrolled at the institution as a student who is not a student -athlete 14
participating in intercollegiate athletics as defined in KRS 164.6941; 15
(d) Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid for the academic 16
year in which the scholarship is awarded; and 17
(e) Complete and submit a scholarship application to the institution. 18
(4) (a) The institution shall annually grant scholarships under this section by 19
lottery from eligible student applicants. 20
(b) The number of the institution's students receiving a scholarship under this 21
section shall not be fewer than the number of institution's student -athletes 22
who received intercollegiate athletics compensation during the previous 23
year under Section 1 of this Act. 24
(c) The institution shall set the amount and duration of the scholarships and 25
may also set requirements for continued eligibility for the scholarship 26
beyond the eligibility requirements established in subsection (3) of this 27
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section. 1
(5) The institution sha ll annually adopt a calendar for the operation of this section, 2
including application deadlines and lottery dates. 3
Section 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2027. 4