House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries refers to SCORE Act as 'Lane Kiffin Protection Act'

After appearing on track for the House floor, a vote on the SCORE Act was postponed. The college sports legislation narrowly passed a procedural vote on Tuesday, paving the way for debate and a vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

However, the vote was taken off the schedule. But speaking with reporters Thursday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) questioned why the bill was even due to be presented in the first place. In the process, he referred to it as the “Lane Kiffin Protection Act” after Kiffin left Ole Miss this week to take over at LSU, even though the Rebels are getting ready for the College Football Playoff.

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Jefferies noted professional players associations, including the NFLPA and MLBPA, spoke out in opposition to the SCORE Act because of the impact it would have on college sports. He also argued it would empower coaches such as Kiffin. That’s why he asked why Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) were looking to bring the bill to the floor.

“The organized labor unions were strongly opposed because it undermined the freedom of athletes to negotiate and took away collective bargaining rights and, of course, the players’ associations across every sports league – led by the NFLPA – because they concluded that it would actually hurt college athletes, not help them,” Jeffries said during a Thursday press conference.

“Why would Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise agree to bring the ‘Lane Kiffin Protection Act’ to the floor of the House of Representatives? Legislation that would do nothing to benefit college athletes and everything to benefit coaches like Lane Kiffin, who got out of town, abandoned his players in the middle of a playoff run to go get a $100 million contract from LSU, the home state of Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise.”

Hakeem Jeffries: SCORE Act would not benefit athletes

The Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act was on track for the House floor following a close, 210-209 procedural vote on Tuesday. Introduced in July, the bill would codify the House settlement and grant liability protection, as well as preempt state NIL laws. It would also include an anti-employment clause and usher in regulation for agents.

Power conferences pushed to support the SCORE Act throughout this college football season, airing commercials and sharing social media posts encouraging passage. NCAA president Charlie Baker has also been vocal in his support and encouraged members of Congress to vote yes, according to a copy of a memo obtained by Front Office Sports.

Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported that a vote will not take place this week, and it could be some time before any more action takes place. But Hakeem Jeffries also questioned the timing of the scheduled vote, in light of other issues. He then asked if the donors at LSU were perhaps behind the decision.

“The question people are asking related to the SCORE Act legislation is, who exactly directed Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise to bring this bill to the floor this week?” Jeffries said. “Was it the big donors connected to LSU? That legislation would not have benefited college athletes.

“Take away the antitrust exemption. It would prevent the ability of states to pass legislation that promotes the health and safety and well-being of their own college students and take away the legal rights for redress.”