#WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced legislation today, mandating the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provide health care and benefits to all veterans who served at Karshi-Khanabad Air Base (K2) in Uzbekistan and have illnesses associated with the toxic substances found at the site.
“This bill will bring life-saving relief to hundreds – and potentially thousands – of veterans who were exposed to extremely harmful toxins in the black goo and glowing ponds reported at K2,” said Blumenthal. “When we send people to war, we make a commitment and accept an obligation to treat them no matter the costs. We know that K2 veterans are suffering from cancers and other illnesses at a great rate, so the VA has no time to waste to make good on this commitment. Lives are at stake.”
“The Pentagon has known for years that our U.S. troops were exposed to cancer causing toxins while serving in Uzbekistan and it’s simply wrong for the VA to deny them health care and disability benefits. The VA has taken a similar approach in the past, delaying recognition and compensation for American veterans exposed to toxic substances like Agent Orange in Vietnam, and with military burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan, while veterans became sick and died. We can’t let that happen again,” said Baldwin. “Our legislation does right by those who served at K2 and were exposed to health risks. We have a commitment to these troops and we need to keep it.”
Blumenthal and Baldwin’s legislation would give K2 veterans access to VA benefits by creating a “presumption of service connection” for illnesses associated with exposure to multiple toxic substances and ground contaminants at the Uzbek site caused by runoff from a chemical weapons decontamination site, an exploded missile storage facility, an abandoned fuel storage facility, as well as asbestos and low level radioactive processed uranium. The legislation mandates the VA provide health care and benefits to the K2 veterans with any diseases associated with the toxins found at K2 and allows K2 veterans to register in VA’s Open Burn Pit Registry to improve data on incidence of disease.
An estimated 7,000 U.S. servicemembers deployed to the K2 military site, an old Soviet base leased from the Uzbek government with proximity to Al Qaeda and Taliban targets in northern Afghanistan, from 2001-2005. The U.S. Army directed an intelligence review and environmental health study of the site in 2001, finding multiple toxins and ground contaminants. In April 2020, the VA announced that it would study illnesses among K2 veterans including cancers, but results from the study are not expected for at least 18 months.
The legislation has been endorsed by the Wounded Warrior Project, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), and Disabled American Veterans (DAV).
“Many veterans who served at the Karshi Khanabad (K2) base have developed serious health issues due to exposure to toxicants,” said Wounded Warrior Project Vice President of Government Affairs Jose Ramos. “The K2 Veterans Care Act of 2020 will provide these veterans the hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care they need and deserve. We thank Senators Blumenthal and Baldwin for introducing this bill and look forward to working with them to ensure its passage in the Senate.”
“Veterans who served at Karshi-Khanabad were exposed to a litany of toxic substances,” said Veterans of Foreign Wars Deputy Director Matthew Doyle. “The VFW is proud to support this legislation, which would rightfully provide disability benefits and care to veterans who developed health conditions as a result of their exposure at K2.”
“We know that the thousands of veterans who served at Karshi Khanabad Air Base in Uzbekistan were exposed to toxins, burn pits, and depleted uranium; however, they are not currently eligible for health care or benefits for any diseases or conditions related to those exposures, said DAV Deputy National Legislative Director for Benefits Shane Liermann. “DAV fully supports the K2 Veterans Care Act of 2020, as it would provide health care eligibility and establish a framework for presumptive diseases that could lead to benefits for these veterans. We thank Senator Blumenthal for his leadership and his commitment to the men and women exposed to toxins during their military service.”
The full text of the legislation can be found here.
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and 26 of their Senate colleagues joined a letter
led by U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to fully extend school meal waivers through the end of the 2020-2021 school year so that schools have the flexibility to fully serve students whether or not they are attending school in person.
The senators initially made this request in July, and the USDA recently announced that it will agree to extend some of the school meal waivers. The USDA extended until the end of the 2020-21 school year waivers that allow parents and guardians to pick up school meals – rather than students themselves – and remove the requirement that school meals be served in group settings. Some waivers have only been extended to the end of the 2020 calendar year, including one that allows school districts a higher level of reimbursement and one that accounts for unanticipated school closures.
“We are glad that you have extended some school meal waivers until the end of the 2020-2021 school year, and grateful that you recently extended some other waivers until December 31, 2020. However, we remain concerned by your decision not to extend all waivers for the entire 2020-2021 school year, and we urge you to correct this as soon as possible,” wrote the senators.
The senators raise the importance of full extension given that the economic and public health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will clearly last beyond the end of the calendar year.
“The remaining waivers that you have not extended for the entire 2020-2021 school year are desperately needed by school meal providers across the country to ensure they have the funding, flexibility, and certainty to continue feeding schoolchildren for the entire upcoming school year. Many localities are dealing with budget shortfalls due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and are relying on federal assistance to keep providing meals,” wrote the senators. “Furthermore, millions of parents have lost their jobs in the past six months and are struggling to ensure that their children have access to nutritious and healthy meals. Many families are relying on school provided meals as one of the only reliable sources of healthy food for their children.”
Full text of the letter can be found here and below:
Dear Secretary Perdue:
Thank you for your letter dated August 20, 2020 in response to our letter dated July 29, 2020 urging you to extend all relevant school meal waivers for the entire 2020-2021 school year. We are glad that you have extended some school meal waivers until the end of the 2020-2021 school year, and grateful that you recently extended some other waivers until December 31, 2020. However, we remain concerned by your decision not to extend all waivers for the entire 2020-2021 school year, and we urge you to correct this as soon as possible. We also write to express disagreement with your conclusion that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not have the authority to extend these waivers until the end of the next school year.
In your response to our July 29th letter you wrote that the request to extend all of the relevant waivers “is beyond what USDA currently has the authority to implement.” This conclusion is based off an incorrect interpretation of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Pub. L. No. 116-127) (“FFCRA”). FFCRA clearly provided USDA with the authority to issue these waivers for the 2020-2021 school year. The only constraint that Congress imposed upon USDA’s authority to issue these waivers was the requirement in Section 2202(e) that they be issued on or before September 30, 2020. Waivers issued prior to that sunset date can still cover periods after the sunset date, including the entire 2020-2021 school year. USDA’s previous decision to extend a number of the nationwide waivers that we mentioned in our letter until the end of the 2020-2021 school year including for the food management company contract duration, local school wellness assessment, and the fresh fruit and vegetable program parent pickup requirements – and your recent decision to extend the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), Seamless Summer Option (SSO), and Area Eligibility Waivers until the end of this calendar year – clearly show that USDA believes it has the authority to extend these waivers well beyond the sunset date.
The remaining waivers that you have not extended for the entire 2020-2021 school year are desperately needed by school meal providers across the country to ensure they have the funding, flexibility, and certainty to continue feeding schoolchildren for the entire upcoming school year. Many localities are dealing with budget shortfalls due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and are relying on federal assistance to keep providing meals. Furthermore, millions of parents have lost their jobs in the past six months and are struggling to ensure that their children have access to nutritious and healthy meals. Many families are relying on school provided meals as one of the only reliable sources of healthy food for their children.
We urge you to reverse your decision and use the authority given to your Department under the FFCRA to extend the following waivers nationwide for the entire 2020-2021 school year:
· Area Eligibility Waiver
· Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) Waivers
· Unexpected School Closures Waiver
We recognize the incredible effort USDA has undertaken to ensure that millions of schoolchildren in this country do not go hungry. This hard work is not yet complete and we implore you to continue working with states and use USDA’s already existing authority to provide them with the flexibility needed to enable food authorities to provide meals through USDA’s child nutrition programs. We look forward to receiving your response as soon as possible on this timely matter.
HARTFORD, CT – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he is appointing Angel Quiros to serve as commissioner of the Department of Correction (DOC).
A veteran of the DOC, Quiros has worked at the agency since 1989, first joining as a correctional officer and then working his way up the ranks as lieutenant, captain, major, deputy warden, warden, district administrator, and his current position as deputy commissioner of operations and rehabilitative services, which he has held since January 2019. He has also been serving in the capacity of interim commissioner since July, following the departure of the agency’s most recent commissioner, Rollin Cook, from the position.
In addition to his work within the state’s criminal justice system, Quiros brings a national perspective to the agency from his work as an independent criminal justice consultant with the Moss Group out of Washington, DC, which has brought him to several correctional systems around the country.
“Experience is imperative when it comes to the operations of our correctional facilities, and it can’t be denied that Angel is intimately familiar with Connecticut’s correctional and criminal justice systems,” Governor Lamont said. “Our correction department has a key responsibility and role in our ongoing efforts to expand rehabilitation and prevent re-entry, and my administration remains focused on maintaining this momentum so that we can continue to drive Connecticut’s crime rate to historic lows. I look forward to working with Angel on these reforms.”
“I am extremely grateful to Governor Lamont for selecting me as his choice to guide the Department of Correction into the future,” Interim Commissioner Quiros said. “I promise to work tirelessly to earn the trust the governor has placed in me.”
Quiros grew up on Park Street in Hartford, where he built strong ties with the community as his father and uncle owned a neighborhood grocery store. He earned a bachelor of science in human services from Springfield College.
Upon his confirmation by the General Assembly, Quiros will become the first-ever Latino man or woman to serve as DOC commissioner.
Connecticut’s prison and jail population has dramatically decreased over the last several years while at the same time crime rates have also reached historic lows. The prison and jail population reached its peak in 2008 when there were 19,894 incarcerated people in state facilities. Today, the state’s total prison and jail population is 9,534 – a 31-year low. This includes a decrease of 2,875 incarcerated people since March 1 of this year.
Representatives Jim Himes (CT-04), Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) and Jahana Hayes (CT-05) announced that the Shelton Economic Development Corporation received $400,000 in CARES Act federal coronavirus relief funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration for the Naugatuck Valley Economic Development District. This grant will be used to implement the necessary economic development strategies required to address the ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic in the Naugatuck Valley Economic Development District.
“Bringing federal dollars to Southwest Connecticut is good for our economy, workforce, and community,” said Congressman Jim Himes. “The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating for many Southwest Connecticut communities. Federal grants like this will help combat the economic havoc and encourage growth and recovery. I look forward to working with the Shelton Economic Development Corporation and Naugatuck Valley Economic Development District in the future to bring in more federal dollars.”
“This pandemic is one of the most serious crises we have faced in our lifetime,” said Congresswoman DeLauro. “We are in a fight to ensure the businesses which closed for the public good, do not have to close for good. The hardworking and committed people that keep Southwest Connecticut’s towns and businesses afloat deserve support from the federal government in this harrowing time. As one of the leaders in crafting federal spending legislation, including coronavirus relief legislation, I am proud we could bring these tax dollars back home to help our towns not only survive but also thrive and build a brighter future for the people of Connecticut and their families.”
“I am pleased the U. S. Economic Development Administration granted $400,000 of the CARES Act to the Naugatuck Valley Corridor Economic Development District to assist efforts combating the coronavirus pandemic, said Congresswoman Jahana Hayes. “These federal dollars will provide a robust boost to support state and local efforts to protect public health. I am proud of the bipartisan cooperation we have seen from every level of government to respond to this emergency. The public health of residents of Connecticut and the American people are my top priority, and I will continue to work across the aisle to ensure our state secures the resources needed to combat the pandemic.”
“On behalf of the Naugatuck Valley Economic Development District, we are grateful for the CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant of $400,000 recently awarded by the U. S. Economic Development Administration,” said Paul Grimmer, Shelton Economic Development Corporation. “This award will be applied towards the necessary economic development strategies required to address the ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic in our 19-town region. The ongoing support of the U. S. Economic Development Administration over the last two decades has allowed the Naugatuck Valley Economic Development District to grow and secure funding otherwise unattainable. This truly has proven to be a successful partnership, and we look forward to continuing this relationship.”
The 19-town region includes: Bethlehem, Watertown, Thomaston, Plymouth, Bristol, Woodbury, Middlebury, Waterbury, Wolcott, Southbury, Oxford, Naugatuck, Prospect, Cheshire, Beacon Falls, Seymour, Ansonia, Derby and Shelton.
“This is the U.S. Economic Development Administration and the strategic planning process in action!” Sheila O’Malley, NVC-EDD Chairperson said. “Being part of a CEDS region is critical in helping maintain the vitality of the region. The federal process and the relationships we have built with the U.S. EDA are especially important in times like these and result in direct benefits to our communities. Thank you to Congresswoman DeLauro, Congressman Himes and the entire delegation in our region for their efforts.”
According to the Shelton Economic Development Corporation, the grant will develop an economic recovery and resilience plan created with input from public agencies, not for profits, and private stakeholders within the district. Additionally, the grant will allow for the deployment of disaster recovery coordinators, provision of technical assistance to local governments, businesses, and other stakeholder organizations, and the funding of appropriate technology. This funding will also support workforce development and training including the retraining of persons who became unemployed due to the pandemic.
Congressman Himes, Congresswoman DeLauro, and Congresswoman Hayes co-sponsored and voted for the CARES Act, which was signed into law on March 27, 2020. This wide-ranging economic rescue package provided rapid and meaningful relief for individuals and businesses through a series of programs, including the CARES Act Recovery Assistance.
HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he has signed orders extending to February 9, 2021, Connecticut’s states of civil preparedness and public health emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally declared in March and scheduled to expire on September 9, the governor said that the states of emergency must remain in place in order for the state to effectively respond to the unprecedented and ongoing global pandemic.
“We’ve come a long way from where we were when COVID-19 first hit Connecticut back in March, and working with our public health officials, other stakeholders, and residents, we’ve built an infrastructure that has taken our state to one of the lowest rates of transmission in the country,” Governor Lamont said. “But Connecticut is not out of the woods yet, and the executive orders we’ve put in place remain critical in our daily fight to contain COVID-19. Bringing an abrupt end to this state of emergency at this time would cripple our ability to quickly respond to new challenges and risk the hard work and sacrifices everyone has made to protect our state from this disease. Over the next several months, our administration will continue working with our partners in the legislature, in our municipalities, in our nonprofits, in our long-term care facilities, and in our hospitals to collaboratively combat this virus.”
WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) led a group of 25 senators, including U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), in calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to boost its Lifeline program to keep students connected as millions return to school both virtually and in person. Since 1985, the FCC’s Lifeline program has made basic internet and telephone service more affordable for low-income Americans and has had bipartisan support.
“As millions of American families face unprecedented financial pressures and educational challenges, we urge the FCC to reverse proposed changes to the Lifeline program, take immediate steps to open its assistance to more households, and ensure that its services meet the pressing needs of families during this crisis,” the Senators wrote in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “We are alarmed that as students head back to class – in person or online – there is still no national plan from the FCC to secure families’ access to their educational future. This looming disaster is one product of the vast digital divide that hinders families’ educational futures, economic opportunities, and health, which FCC should vigorously bridge through Lifeline and other USF programs.”
The senators strongly criticized the FCC, under Pai’s leadership, for not only failing to make access to broadband easier for families, but also for actively undermining and destabilizing the Lifeline program, saying: “Regrettably, under your Chairmanship, the FCC has actively worked to undermine and destabilize the Lifeline program, which has left more families vulnerable during the pandemic by widening the learning gap and lessening household’s ability to access crucial services, such as unemployment benefits, food assistance, and health resources. Since the first weeks of your tenure, the FCC has sought to block new broadband providers’ participation in the Lifeline program, curtail benefits in tribal areas, exclude existing carriers, rollback reforms for registering new carriers, make it harder for new applicants to subscribe, prevent carriers from offering free in-person distribution of phones, reduce incentives to enroll subscribers, and add more barriers for participating carriers and subscribers.”
The senators called for the FCC to put in place a comprehensive plan to respond to this national crisis and to immediately take steps to implement reforms that will bridge the homework gap that has already left millions of children behind with no access to internet or connected devices. These reforms include additional financial support for Lifeline providers to temporarily expand unlimited mobile data and voice minutes to consumers to keep them connected during the pandemic, pause and extend any bureaucratic obstacles for subscribers that could result in cutting off their broadband access in the midst of a pandemic, and notify Congress if additional funding is needed to support the program.
Blumenthal has previously called for robust Lifeline and E-Rate assistance program funding to ensure Americans stay connected amid the coronavirus pandemic. In April, he led a group of 27 senators in calling on Congressional leadership to commit at least $1 billion in funding for the Lifeline program in future coronavirus relief to meet the new connectivity needs of Americans. That letter is available here. Earlier this year, Blumenthal led a letter to the FCC to make sure that no eligible American is disconnected from the Lifeline assistance program during the crisis. The full text of that letter is available here. Earlier this month, Blumenthal and 35 Senate colleagues sent a letter to House and Senate leadership requesting $2 billion in E-Rate funding, so all K-12 students have adequate home internet connectivity if their schools close due to the pandemic. That letter is available here.
HARTFORD, CT U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called on regulators to urgently enact a number of reforms to ease the burden on Connecticut consumers, including breaking up utility provider giant Eversource. Despite rising profits and multi-million dollar executive compensation, electricity costs increased amid the pandemic, followed by staggering power outages resulting from its lack of adequate preparation for Tropical Storm Isaias.
“The time for tinkering is over. We need to think big about becoming smaller, more responsive, and smarter in the way we do public utilities and deliver power to the consumers of Connecticut.” said Blumenthal at the hearing. “This system is clearly failing men and women in Connecticut who every day pay their electric bills. It is a particularly egregious failure in the midst of this pandemic when families are struggling to put food on the table, clothe their children, and pay their rents.”
Blumenthal pressed regulators to freeze the fees imposed on consumers, and instead order refunds and reimbursements for losses Connecticut consumers experienced, saying: “it is deeply and flagrantly unfair that they are paying the highest rates in the continental United States for some of the worst performance.”
Blumenthal also called for a break up of Eversource and for the creation of a Connecticut-based utility, possibly with public ownership to mirror advantages of municipal owned-utilities that experience lower rates and quicker repair response times. Blumenthal also touted the success of cooperative ownerships and locally responsive utilities in states like Maryland, saying: “Connecticut-owned and operated, with direct accountability to the people of Connecticut. There is nothing novel or untried about it.”
Blumenthal advocated for the elimination of guaranteed profits for Eversource and ensuring that rates are linked to performance, stressing that no other business in the country has guaranteed profits untethered to performance: “clearly the link between profit and performance should be established firmly. People, mainly the customers, need to be put before profit – a priority that has been clearly lacking in the past.”
Blumenthal called on PURA to join him in continuing to press the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to change the grossly anti-consumer process for approving transmission line projects and costs. As Connecticut Attorney General, Blumenthal has sued and argued in the U.S. Supreme Court against FERC and the inequities and inefficiencies of the current process for rate setting and decision-making by FERC.
As the nation grapples with issues of race and inclusion, Connecticut Insurance Department (CID) Commissioner Andrew N. Mais has led discussions in severalNational Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) forums on race, diversity, and inclusion within the insurance industry and in insurance practices.
“Inclusion means having everyone having a voice, and for as vital industry like insurance, it means helping all members of our Connecticut family get access to the products that are relevant to them,” Mais said.
Commissioner Mais has also participated in efforts led by Governor Ned Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz to address social inequities in Connecticut, including the Council on Women and Girls and cultural competency initiatives.
Mais is also a member of the NAIC’s recently created Special Executive Committee on Race and Insurance. This special committee, created in July, is charged with conducting research and analyzing issues of diversity and inclusion within the insurance sector; engaging with a broad group of stakeholders on issues related to race, diversity, and inclusion in, and access to, the insurance sector and insurance products; examining and determining which current practices or barriers exist in the insurance sector that potentially disadvantages persons of color and other underrepresented groups; and making recommendations for action to the NAIC membership.
Further building upon his participation in panels and forums, Commissioner Mais was the guest host of a special edition of the NAIC podcast “The Regulators” focused on race and insurance. Mais brought together regulators, industry, and consumer advocates to discuss diversity and equity in the insurance industry, an issue that the NAIC is addressing as part of its new race and insurance initiative.
In this special episode, Mais discusses racial equity in the delivery and sale of insurance products, as well as racial diversity within the insurance industry. His guests included: California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara; New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioner Marlene Caride; Aflac Chief Executive Officer, Dan Amos; and Consumer Advocate and Chair of the Connecticut Insurance Department Subcommittee on Big Data, Sonja Larkin-Thorne.
“This podcast is just one of the many conversations that commissioners are having about how we can work together to identify and address biases,” said Mais. “Advancing issues related to racial equity requires talking openly about race and insurance practices, even if the conversations are difficult.”
During the NAIC National Summer Meeting, Mais moderated a panel discussion “Current Racially Based Challenges within the Insurance Sector,”which was part of a larger special session on Race and Insurance. The panel of consumer advocates reviewed current industry practices that potentially disadvantage minorities, including use of big-data and algorithmic-based underwriting models (i.e., proxy discrimination), access to quality and affordable healthcare, and low levels of financial literacy and access to insurance/financial products.
To close out the special session on Race and Insurance, Mais participated on the “Increasing Diversity and Inclusion within the Insurance Sector” panel. The group held a member-focused dialogue on specific steps that both regulators and stakeholders can take to improve diversity and inclusion within the insurance sector.
“CID is committed to working with state and national partners and the industry on these important issues,” said Commissioner Mais. “We are committed to protecting consumers from any discrimination and finding a solution where all residents have access to insurance and removing barriers that will improve access in underserved communities.”
While Commissioner Mais is actively involved in the conversations on the national level through the NAIC, he also made the topic a priority within the Department. Mais established an Inclusion Council at the CID chaired by Lady Mendoza, the Department’s first ever Chief Inclusion Officer.
About the Connecticut Insurance Department: The mission of the Connecticut Insurance Department is to protect consumers through regulation of the industry, outreach, education and advocacy.
Consumers with questions on their insurance can contact the department.
WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection, with jurisdiction over the NCAA and amateur athletes, Chris Murphy (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) today announced the framework for a new college athletes bill of rights that will advance justice and opportunity for college athletes.
Blumenthal previewed the framework with Booker while serving as Ranking Member during a July Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on “Protecting the Integrity of College Athletics.” The proposal will guarantee fair and equitable compensation, enforceable health and safety standards, and improved educational opportunities for all college athletes.
College sports have the unique ability to transcend partisan divisions and cultural differences to unite millions of Americans as fans. Yet, college sports have also come to reflect many of the inequalities that permeate everyday life in America—where systems fail to protect those under the charge of others, where hard-working Americans are blocked from sharing in the profits they help create, and where systemic and structural racism disadvantage and exploit people of color.
“The present state of college athletics is undeniably exploitive. The literal blood, sweat, and tears of student-athletes fuels a $14 billion industry, but until very recently, those students received little in return and were vulnerable to being tossed aside. Reforming this system is about basic justice: racial justice, economic justice, and health care justice,” Blumenthal said. “Our framework is centered around the principle of empowering athletes. We want to give college athletes the tools they need to protect their economic rights, pursue their education, prioritize their health and safety, and most critically, hold their schools and organizations like the NCAA accountable.”
“Early last year, I set out to expose the inequities and civil rights issues in college sports and COVID-19 has only exacerbated them. We can’t return to business as usual—where a multi-billion dollar industry lines the pockets of predominately white executives all while majority-Black athletes can’t profit from their labor,” said Murphy. “The College Athletes Bill of Rights lays out the reforms college sports desperately need so we can finally put athletes’ economic rights, health and wellbeing, and educational opportunities first. This isn’t radical thinking—it’s just the right thing to do.”
“As a former college athlete, this issue is personal to me. The NCAA has failed generations of young men and women even when it comes to their most basic responsibility—keeping the athletes under their charge healthy and safe,” Booker said. “The time has come for change. We have an opportunity to do now what should have been done decades ago—to step in and provide true justice and opportunity for college athletes across the country. Our college athletes bill of rights establishes a new framework for fairness, equity, and safety in college athletics, and holds colleges accountable to these standards.”
In February, Blumenthal raised concerns regarding the current compensation system and fairness within college athletics at a hearing of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection on “Name, Image, and Likeness: The State of Intercollegiate Athlete Compensation.” During the hearing, Blumenthal call the “exploitive” college athletics system “as antiquated as leather helmets.”
In May, Murphy and Booker criticized the recommendations included in the NCAA’s Board of Governors report on college athlete compensation as insufficient and urged more sweeping reforms. Blumenthal and U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), the Chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection, also released a statement calling for greater action to support and empower college athletes.
Murphy has been an outspoken advocate on the issue of reforming college sports. In June, Murphy and Golden State Warriors player Draymond Green co-authored an op-ed for ESPN on how college sports must change following the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide protests for racial justice. Last December, Murphy released his third and final report in a series of reports that considered the range of problems within college athletics. The report, “Madness, Inc.: How College Sports Leave Athletes Broken and Abandoned,” examines the ways in which colleges and the NCAA neglect athletes’ health and received praise from players and advocates across the college athletics community. Murphy’s first Madness, Inc. report examined the billions in revenues produced by college sports and how that money enriches nearly everyone but the athletes themselves. Coaches, former athletes, and advocates have spoken out in support of Murphy’s first report. Murphy’s second report examined the ways in which colleges fail in providing athletes the education they deserve. This report similarly received praise from coaches, former athletes and advocates.
In June, Blumenthal and Booker announced a bill – the Collegiate Athlete Pandemic Safety Act – to ban the use of legally dubious COVID-19 liability waivers, safeguard the scholarship of any athlete who decided not to participate this year out of fear of contracting COVID-19, and require athletic departments to comply with CDC-issued health and safety guidelines related to COVID-19.
In July, Blumenthal pressed witnesses representing college athletics programs on the legality and morality of COVID-19 liability waivers during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation on “Exploring a Compensation Framework for Intercollegiate Athletes.” Earlier this month, under pressure from Blumenthal, Booker, and others, the NCAA announced that it would prohibit member schools from requiring athletes to sign liability waivers. The NCAA also committed to honor scholarships of college athletes who opt out due to COVID-19, which would be required by Blumenthal-Booker legislation.
Formal legislation reflecting the framework unveiled today will be formally introduced in the Senate in the coming months.
The framework is endorsed by the following groups: the United Steelworkers, the National College Players Association, the Sports Fans Coalition, College Athletes for No More Names, College Athletes Unity, Athletes Igniting Action, and the Coalition for African Diaspora Student-Athletes.
The College Athletes Bill of Rights will provide:
Fair and equitable compensation. Allow college athletes to market their name, image, and likeness (NIL), both individually and as a group, with minimal restrictions and provide college athletes with revenue-sharing agreements with athletic associations, conferences, and their member schools that result in fair and equitable compensation. Though college athletes power a $16 billion industry featuring billion-dollar media deals, million-dollar coaching salaries, and luxury facilities rivaling those in professional leagues, college athletes are blocked from sharing in any of the profit they help create. Given the NCAA’s history of athlete exploitation, any legislation designed to provide fair and equitable compensation to college athletes should prevent the NCAA from restricting or regulating athlete compensation. College athletes should retain authority to determine and establish fair NIL agreements and have a clear voice in crafting rules at their college, instead of facing undue control and micromanagement primarily motivated by profit.
Enforceable evidence-based health, safety, and wellness standards. Develop and aggressively enforce evidence-based health, safety, and wellness standards to ensure college athletes are kept healthy and protected from undue risk related to their participation in sports and the COVID-19 pandemic, and that coaches are held accountable for dangerous and abusive decision-making. Since 2000, more than 30 college football players have died from heat-related illnesses due to workouts that went too far, while the coaches and trainers responsible rarely face consequences. And for decades, the NCAA has failed to attach any penalties to their concussion guidelines — making them more like suggestions than rules.
Improved educational outcomes and opportunities. Provide college athletes with commensurate lifetime scholarships while increasing transparency and accountability to ensure college athletes receive the educational opportunities they deserve and have earned. Fewer than six in 10 entering college freshman students graduate in four years, and most of those students do not experience the strain and time constraints that college athletes face. Graduation rates for Black athletes are significantly lower than white athletes—just 55 percent of Black male athletes from the Power 5 conferences graduate within six years. Even more, some college athletes are pressured toward enrolling in less challenging classes and majors to allow for more time and focus on sports, or so that their coach can cash-in on bonuses associated with higher grade point averages, while other colleges engage in academic fraud to keep their athletes eligible.
Comprehensive health care coverage and support with sport-related injuries. Increase financial assistance for current and former college athletes with medical bills and out-of-pocket expenses from sport-related injuries and illnesses from COVID-19. Currently, there is no uniformity in health care coverage across athletic programs or any consistent commitment to help with injuries that carry life-long consequences. Today, the college sports industry makes billions off the physical exploits of unpaid athletes, but bears almost no long term responsibility to pay for the damage done to athletes’ bodies during the time they wear the school’s uniform.
Accountability across college sports. Require each school to provide more detailed annual public reporting that describes total sources of revenues and expenditures, including compensation for athletic department personnel and booster donations, as well as reporting on the number of hours athletes commit to athletic activities, including all mandatory workouts, “voluntary” workouts, film study, and game travel, and academic outcomes, disaggregated by athletic program, race and ethnicity, and gender.
Freedom for college athletes to attend the institution of their choice. Ban restrictions and penalties that prevent college athletes from attending the institution of their choice, including penalties associated with transferring schoolsand penalties hidden behind National Letters of Intent. Too often, high school students are pressured to sign National Letters of Intent that perpetuate the power imbalance between athletes and the colleges that recruit them: the school can withdraw from the agreement without penalty, while the college athlete can lose a full season and year of eligibility if they decide to attend a different college.
An oversight panel that gives athletes a real voice. Establish a permanent commission, led by current and former college athletes, policy experts, academics, and administration officials, to give athletes a meaningful voice and level the playing field by establishing baseline rules that govern college sports.
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With human trafficking on the rise during the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced the bipartisan Leveraging Information on Foreign Traffickers (LIFT) Act to combat modern day slavery. This legislation supports survivor-centered efforts to monitor and prevent trafficking, and improves the U.S. Department of State’s ability to gather information on this crime. U.S. Representatives Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Eliot Engel (D-NY) are lead cosponsors of this bicameral legislation in the House and introduced the House version of the bill in January.
“This bipartisan measure mobilizes survivors and better information to fight human trafficking,” said Blumenthal. “It seeks to stop modern day slavery, even as the COVID-19 crisis is exacerbating it. The increasing urgency of protecting innocent victims — before they are ensnared by traffickers — should make the LIFT Act a priority.”
“Human trafficking, modern day slavery, is an evil that reaches into every corner of the world. We must fight until it is eradicated,” said Hawley. “This legislation equips the State Department and the survivor-led Advisory Council on Human Trafficking with new resources to monitor and combat trafficking wherever it exists.”
Key provisions of the LIFT Act include:
Extending the Advisory Council on Human Trafficking (Council) by four years. The Council is a nongovernmental body that advises the State Department and other federal entities, and reviews federal efforts to monitor and prevent trafficking.
Authorizing Council members who are trafficking survivors to be compensated for their time.
Ensuring that the Trafficking in Persons Office at the State Department receives timely information on visa denials for reasons related to human trafficking to improve coordination and communication.
Extending the deadline for the federal government’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report from June 1 to June 30 to avoid straining the State Department’s resources.
The legislation has been endorsed by Humanity United and the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST).
“The U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking is an important body consisting of survivors of human trafficking who advise the U.S. government on federal anti-trafficking policies and programs,” said Humanity United Action Senior Advisor Corban Teague. “It is critical that we elevate the voices of trafficking survivors and ensure they have a seat at the table. The bipartisan LIFT Act not only extends the authorization of the Advisory Council, but for the first time ever, will allow the survivors sitting on the Advisory Council to receive compensation for the work they do. This is a strong step in support of trafficking survivors, and Humanity United Action calls on Congress to swiftly pass this important legislation.”
The full text of the Senate legislation can be found here.
