The Senate is set to take a test vote Thursday on legislation that would rewrite the financial and eligibility rules governing college sports, with more than 70 senators already backing the measure. If leaders reach a time agreement, the chamber could pass the bill outright later the same day.
The bill would cap how much money schools can pay athletes for their name, image and likeness, while also tightening restrictions on player transfers and setting new eligibility standards.
The vote comes as the Senate weighs whether to leave for the midterm recess this week or stay in session, a decision now tangled up in a separate fight over utility costs tied to data centers.
The Ohio Angle
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has said he wants to move a bipartisan permitting reform bill covering data centers, drilling and environmental issues, but that measure is not yet ready for a vote. Thune indicated the Senate was likely to remain in session into next week regardless.
That timeline has collided with a dispute over the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bill that would help shield consumers from rising utility costs caused by nearby data centers. The House passed it last week by a lopsided 417-3 vote.
Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, one of the most vulnerable Republicans facing voters this fall, has taken criticism at home over his support for data centers. Last week he asked the Senate to pass the House-approved bill immediately. Senate Democrats blocked the request.
Schumer Calls the Bill a "Fraud"
Asked directly whether Democrats blocked the bill to deny Husted a political win ahead of a competitive race, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., dismissed the legislation.
"Sen. Husted’s bill is a fraud. It’s voluntary. No company has to do it. The bill we have is mandatory. It is much stronger and is what is needed."
Republicans are expected to seize on that characterization, given the bill Schumer called a "fraud" passed the House with only three dissenting votes. Expect the line to surface in Ohio campaign ads.
Republicans now have an incentive to force Democrats to go on record on the measure, calculating it could help both the party generally and Husted specifically before Election Day. That raises the possibility the Senate stays in session past this week to bring the utility bill to the floor, giving Republicans an affordability message to close out the pre-midterm stretch — right after they finish legislating college sports.
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