HB 1424 -- ATHLETE AGENTS

SPONSOR:  Stefanick

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on
Professional Registration and Licensing by a vote of 16 to 0.

This bill requires all athlete agents operating in this state to
be registered and certified by the Division of Professional
Registration.  Fees for registration and renewal will be set by
the division and deposited into the Athlete Agent Fund, which is
created by the bill.  Registration and certification are valid
for a two-year period and may be renewed indefinitely.  The
division director may refuse to issue a certificate or may
suspend or revoke a certificate because of the following
circumstances:

(1)  The applicant has been convicted of a crime of moral
turpitude;

(2)  The applicant made false statements on the application;

(3)  The applicant has had a similar license suspended or revoked
in another state; or

(4)  The applicant has caused a student-athlete to be suspended
from or to be ineligible for any interscholastic or
intercollegiate athletic event.

The bill requires all contracts between agents and athletes to be
written and contain certain information, including the basis for
the agent's fee and a notice warning the student-athlete about
the possible loss of eligibility.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Cost on General Revenue Fund of Up to
$14,481 in FY 2005, $0 in FY 2006, and $0 in FY 2007.  No impact
on Other State Funds in FY 2005, FY 2006, and FY 2007.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the bill is needed to protect
the student athlete.  It is very important to have a regulatory
authority to provide oversight to this profession.  Currently,
the Secretary of State's Office has no authority to set
qualifications or to investigate and enforce violations made by
athlete agents.  Any person wishing to be an agent can be
registered just by paying a registration fee.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Stefanick; Office of
Secretary of State; and University of Missouri.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Bob Dominique, Legislative Analyst

Missouri House of Representatives
92nd General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 23, 2004 at 11:15 am