Quote:Rep. Mark Walker (R., N.C.) will introduce a bill Thursday—likely through the Ways and Means committee—that would amend the definition of a qualified amateur sports organization in the U.S. tax code. In the new definition, a body seeking to be defined as a qualified amateur sports organization would be banned from “prohibiting or substantially restricting the use of an athlete’s name, image and likeness.”

In other words, if the NCAA wanted to remain tax-exempt, the schools that run it couldn’t keep a rule on the books banning athletes from making money off their names. If an athlete wants to sign autographs for cash, fine. If a company wants to hire that athlete to pitch its products, swell. Walker has been examining this issue for the past 18 months, and he sees it as a free-market issue and a basic rights issue. “It’s a travesty and an injustice that the one segment of our society that can’t access the free market like every other person in America is the student athlete,” Walker says. He’d like to see athletes treated like college students who excel at any other discipline. “If a kid is at a school on a music scholarship, you can go get gigs,” he says. “You can play in an orchestra, whatever you want to do without it having any kind of impact. And you’re doing it based on your talent, image and likeness.”

Quote:The NCAA should worry, because Walker isn’t alone. He says he has met with House Democrats such as Bobby Scott (Virginia), Cedric Richmond (Louisiana) and Hakeem Jeffries (New York) about this bill, and Walker expects bipartisan support. “When we get ready to drop this thing on Thursday, we’re going to have overwhelming support,” Walker says. “It isn’t just going to be a Republican thing.”

He also wants to make one thing clear. He is not suggesting schools pay players. He is merely proposing a removal of the barriers that keep others from paying players.