EAST LANSING, Mich. — According to the NCAA, there were more than 500,000 student athletes at colleges and universities across the country, and hundreds of them play at Michigan State University. But new efforts from lawmakers at the State Capitol are aiming to give new rights to athletes at universities in the state.
- State lawmakers have introduced a bill to consider college athletes as public employees in the state.
- Lawmakers and athletes say the bill would give athletes the power to bargain for change, like making it easier to balance their sports with school.
- If approved and signed into law, this would be the latest change to the world of college sports after a new rule went into effect that allows schools to directly pay athletes through things like ticket sales.
WATCH: MSU athletes react to new bill proposed at Michigan state capitol
It's something that's evident just speaking with athletes like Parker Picot, a baseball player at Michigan State.
"Friday, Saturday, Sunday games, you're at the stadium pretty much," Picot said. "Getting home at nine, ten o' clock at night. And on top of that, we're missing classes all the time, so you have to put in extra hours of studying, things like that."
Being a college athlete is a major time commitment. And as a result, state lawmakers have introduced a bill to consider college athletes as public employees in the state.
"Student athletes dedicate countless hours of time each week to their sports and to academics, and they generate millions of dollars their institutions," Democratic State Representative Carrie Rheingans said. "But they lack the legal right to make sure that they have basic standards, basic protections like healthcare, like fair compensation, and safety standards."
Rheingans introduced the bill, which would give athletes the same protections as other public employees like the right to organize a labor union and participate in collective bargaining.
"These athletes already function as essential workers in a billion-dollar industry," Rheingans said. "And this bill simply give them a voice in shaping the conditions under which they work."
Britain Beshears, a senior softball player at MSU, says the bill would give athletes the power to bargain for change, like making it easier to balance their sports with school.
"I support this bill because then we can become employees and use our voice for not only sports but academics as well."
If approved by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Whitmer, this would be the latest change to the world of college sports. Earlier this month, a new rule went into effect that allows schools to directly pay athletes through things like ticket sales. You can find that coverage here.
