I 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 599 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 16, 2009 Mr. Gary G. Miller of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To prohibit the receipt of Federal funds by any institution of higher education with a football team that participates in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, unless the national championship game of such Subdivision is the culmination of a playoff system.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the Championship Fairness Act of 2009.
2.
Prohibition
(a)
Prohibition
An institution of higher education shall not be eligible to receive any Federal funds for any fiscal year during which the institution has a football team that participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, unless the national championship game of such Subdivision is the culmination of a playoff system. (b)
Definitions
In this Act: (1)
Institution of higher education
The term institution of higher education has the meaning given such term in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). (2)
Playoff system
The term playoff system means a system by which the national championship game of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision is the final game of a single elimination post-season playoff system for which all NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision conferences and unaffiliated NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision teams are eligible.
3.
Rules of construction
(a)
Other sports not affected
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect the post-season playoff system of any sport, division, subdivision, or athletic program other than the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. (b)
Bowl games permitted
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent— (1)a playoff system that incorporates the post-season NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision bowl games established before the date of the enactment of this Act, including names, sponsorships, and locations for such bowl games; or (2)bowl games carried out independent of the playoff system required by this Act, including bowl games established before, on, and after the date of the enactment of this Act.
4.
Effective date
The prohibition in section 2(a) shall apply to any institution of higher education with a football team participating in an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision game on or after the date that is 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.