Bill calling for financial assistance for Lobo, Aggie athletes one step closer to happening

Some extra cash — a total of $5 million — for Lobo and Aggie athletes is a step closer after the Senate Education Committee on Monday gave an 8-1 “do-pass” recommendation to move forward on Senate Bill 268.

But not before amendments were made that changed the original intent for it to fund NIL — name, image and likeness payments to college athletes — and rather firm admonishment about the bill’s original language, which one legislator believed took a shot at New Mexico State Athletics.

“We got the stamp of approval from the education leaders in the Senate that this is money well spent,” said Sen. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, D-Albuquerque, one of the bill’s authors, whose main premise is that investing in college athletics is a way to help the entire state financially, with quality of life and for recruiting and retaining quality students at the universities.

“This money will generate more money for the taxpayers. It’s a significant move in Santa Fe to support Lobo and Aggie athletics on into the future,” he said.

The bill moves on to the Senate Finance Committee, where it will be discussed then tabled and forgotten or added to House Bill 2, the state budget.

The bill was originally intended to give the University of New Mexico and NMSU athletic departments, the state’s two NCAA Division I level schools, a one-time appropriation of $2.5 million each, in addition to their usual annual allotment of state aid, to help specifically with NIL (name, image and likeness) payments directly to student-athletes.

College athletes are in the third year of being allowed by the NCAA to earn income from a third party for use of their name, image and likeness. Starting next academic year, schools themselves will be allowed to partake in revenue sharing directly with their athletes who compete in what has become a billion-dollar college athletics business.

With examples of large revenue generation in recent years — like the NMSU football team going to multiple bowl games and the recent resurrection of the Lobo men’s basketball program under Richard Pitino — Maestas and fellow bill sponsor George Muñoz, D-Gallup, noted that in order for the two athletic departments to continue competing at high levels within their own conferences, they must be able to increase funding to athletes, or the good ones will go to school elsewhere.

But the still new, and uncomfortable to many, notion of paying college athletes, was a concern echoed by several committee members.

“Are we buying athletes?” asked Sen. Ant Thornton, R-Sandia Park.

Both Muñoz and Maestas made clear none of the money would go to NIL — a very different message from when the bill was first floated — nor to any coach or administrator salaries, but specifically to fund student athlete welfare initiatives and programs like mental health assistance and nutrition.

While it may ultimately be a shell game of pushing new money into those areas only to have athletic departments move current funding of such programs elsewhere, including to NIL, it was important in the committee’s eyes to change the bill’s language from saying the funds went to “Athletics” to “Student-athletes.”

“Where is the enforcement mechanism if this is used to supplant instead of to supplement?” committee chair Sen. William P. Soules, D-Doña Ana, asked at one point, reiterating the concern multiple times.

No such language is in the bill.

The amendment making clear the intent is for money to directly assist the student athletes, though not with direct payments, wasn’t the only one.

The original bill had a contingency stipulating in order for NMSU to get the money, it had to hire an athletic director with at least five years’ experience in NIL.

NIL only started three years ago, so aside from the requirement being impossible to meet, it was viewed by Soules as a cheap shot and an inappropriate way to try and control the school’s ability to make its own hire.

Muñoz said the five-year NIL language was a mistake, but didn’t shy away from wanting NMSU to focus on its AD hire after several years of having multiple public controversies.

“Senator, that was more of a personal dig at New Mexico State, and it’s inappropriate to put some things into a bill because you don’t like who New Mexico State is looking at or hiring as an athletic director, and I take offense at that,” Soules told Muñoz, who is chair of the finance committee the bill goes to next.

“I would have made the same comments if it was in there about UNM. It’s inappropriate to do that, because these things are real to people at those universities, and this hurts their ability to hire people when they see legislation of that sort.”

The entirety of any funding contingency based on NMSU’s hiring of an athletic director was stricken.

NOTE: The Senate Education Committee heard the bill on Monday. The name of the committee was corrected in this version of the story.