For the sake of responsibility, NIL contracts must be subject to requests for open records

Without a doubt, one of the biggest pieces of legislation in the Colorado Capitol this year is Bill from the House of Representatives 1041.

Known as the Student Athlete Image or Water Law, HB 1041 would allow schools and universities to pay directly to student athletes. But a small clause in this bill prevents us from being able to leave our weight behind: the fact that the athlete’s compensation would be exempt from open record requests.

In 2021, the NCAA authorized students to be compensated in the so -called name, image and similarity agreements, provided that the compensation source was a non -school entity. That null authorization fundamentally reorganized university athletics, and quickly performed The main stars of the nation in Millionaires.

He has also played a role in the recent success of Buffaloes in Folsom Field. The arrival of the “Prime” Sanders coach brought an unprecedented amount of national attention to CU. That attention brought null lucrative money. And the money will surely bring talent. The 2024 season was the test.

Now, however, the zero field is changing again. The settlement of the house of demand for class V action. NCAA opened the door for athletes to be paid directly by their schools.

But for Colorado Colleges and Universities to do so, the state legislature will have to be well direct payments.

That is where HB 1041 enters. The image of the name of the student athlete or the similarity law would help keep schools like CU in a leveling playing field with competition throughout the country.

To be absolutely clear: we do not take any problem with the effort of the legislature to allow schools to pay directly to their athletes. It is a big problem that has the potential to remodel both university athletics and universities. But it also continues to help address the historical exploitation of the talents of athletes students. Cu boulder made $ 31.2 million for sale of football tickets And he recorded a gain of $ 8 million during the 2023 season, that is not possible without these athletes.

But despite our support for null reform, we cannot support this measure.

The fundamental failure in the bill is a provision that exempts the contracts of the students athletes of the Law of Open Colorado records.

The sponsors of the bill, including the representative of Boulder, Lesley Smith, and Senator Judy Amabile, argue that maintaining the compensation of students in private will help protect students. They also say that it is necessary to “Recruitment and competitive balance”.

We sympathize with the desire to protect athletes in principle. But hiding your public scrutiny compensation is not the way to do it. A hard but inherent reality of being an athlete in the center of attention is that scrutiny will take care. Providing students with the support of mental health and the resources and the necessary environment where they can become responsible citizens would go much further than simply hide their salary.

Especially when compensation is put in context. The colleges and universities supported by the taxpayers of our State will begin to distribute contracts that make millions of dollars potentially, not we taxpayers want to be able to ensure that these schools are using that money wisely?

In a perfect world, we could trust that these schools always play with the rules and act with integrity. But this is not a perfect world. Considering some of the many scandals that have tarnished university athletics in search of glory, including the situation in CU Boulder that resulted in the Title IX Simpson demand v. Colorado University – It is always better to prioritize transparency in the name of responsibility.

Finally, the notion that private contracts will help our schools to stay competitive is an exaggeration. Last year, the Washington Post reported That the 24 states require that public schools and universities reveal null agreements, and 26 other states, including in Colorado, require that athletes reveal null agreements to their schools. In other words, null agreements have been, and should remain, public.

We cannot put it better than the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel In its opposition to HB 1041: “We oppose the notion of maintaining the details of these payments in secret because transparency, ultimately, is the only antiseptic that can prevent the university athletics of a large time from being infected by greed more than it is. The way money enters and leaves public institutions is clearly a matter of public interest. “

For some, if null contracts in public universities are subject to requests for open records may seem like a small problem. But we must all look at this problem in its true context: transparency is the only thing that prevents our government from acting with impunity. Taking into account the world in which we are living today, do we really want to let transparency erosion more?

Before HB 1041 advance, our legislators must ensure that null contracts are subject to open record requests. In large and small matters, we must remember that the government is making our offers with our money. We deserve to open the curtains and let the sun shine.

– Gary Garrison for the editorial board