New Jersey Assemblyman Joseph Lagana. Courtesy photo

A bill that would make New Jersey the second state in the country to provide for compensation of collegiate student-athletes passed the state Senate on Monday.

The New Jersey Fair Play Act, sponsored by Sen. Joseph Lagana, D-Bergen, Senate Higher Education Committee Chairwoman Sandra Cunningham, D-Hudson, and Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, was released by the upper chamber in a voting session by 21-11.

Under S-971, collegiate student-athletes could earn compensation, such as endorsements and other deals, for the use of their name, image or likeness, at a four-year institution of higher education.

They could also obtain professional representation, including an agent or lawyer, without impacting their scholarship eligibility, which is the case under the current rules.

The New Jersey bill advances as the NCAA begins exploring plans to allow student-athletes to earn money from their name in some capacity. The association currently bars any such compensation, according to the same release.

"Far too many people at the NCAA earn exorbitant amounts of money off of the blood, sweat and tears of talented young New Jerseyans in this state" and elsewhere, said Lagana in a release Monday announcing the measure's passage in the Senate, calling the issue "yet another example of the growing need to defend and expand workers' rights in all areas."

S-971 states: "The bill provides that a student-athlete who enters into a contract providing compensation to the student-athlete for use of his name, image, or likeness must disclose the contract to an official of the four-year institution of higher education, to be designated by the institution."

It adds: "An institutional team contract may not prevent a student-athlete from using the athlete's name, image, or likeness for a commercial purpose when the athlete is not engaged in official team activities."

But there are limits under the bill. Student-athletes would not be able to earn compensation when their image is used in connection with certain industries: adult entertainment, alcohol, gambling of any kind, including sports betting, lottery, or betting connected to video games, online games, and mobile devices, tobacco and electronic smoking, pharmaceuticals, controlled dangerous substances or firearms.

National Collegiate Athletic Association headquarters in Indianapolis. Photo: Shutterstock

When asked about the New Jersey bill, Stacey Osburn, director of communications for the NCAA, said the NCAA was underway with upgrading its policies and guidelines regarding student-athletes.

The NCAA's Board of Governors in October 2019 voted unanimously to permit students participating in athletics the opportunity to benefit from the use of their name, image and likeness in a manner consistent with the collegiate model. All three NCAA divisions were directed to immediately consider modernization of bylaws and policies, with each division to create any new rules beginning immediately, but no later than January 2021, Osburn said.

"As a national governing body, the NCAA is uniquely positioned to modify its rules to ensure fairness and a level playing field for student-athletes," NCAA president Mark Emmert said in an Oct. 20, 2019, press release referred to by Osburn. "The board's action today creates a path to enhance opportunities for student-athletes while ensuring they compete against students and not professionals."

Cunningham, one of the sponsors of S-971, called it "unacceptable that, while student-athletes receive scholarships, one serious injury can leave them with no scholarship, no means to pay for the remainder of their degree, and no idea how to move forward with their life or their career."

The bill "can put them in control of their future, without having to rely entirely on the goodwill of the schools they attend," Cunningham said.

The Assembly version of the bill, A-2106, was introduced Jan. 14, and referred to the Assembly Higher Education Committee. It's sponsored by Assemblywoman Lisa Swain, D-Bergen, Assemblyman Christopher Tully, D-Bergen, and Benjie Wimberly, D-Passaic.

If the legislation is signed by Gov. Phil Murphy, New Jersey would join California, which signed similar legislation last September.

U.S. lawmakers, as well as legislatures in Florida, New York, South Carolina, Minnesota and Pennsylvania, are considering similar legislation, according to the same release.

Weinberg said being a premier athlete in college is akin to holding a full-time job.

"These elite athletes spend well over 40 hours a week practicing, training and performing with no guarantee of a professional career, or even a complete education," Weinberg said in the same release. "This is not only unfair, it's exploitation."