It took more than four months for the Senate to pass a bill that backers concede is far from perfect, but still the best chance to control runaway spending and a raft of other problems across college sports.
One of the bill’s authors, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, wants to parlay the 77-22 bipartisan victory Monday night into the House returning to Washington to pass the same bill in the span of four weeks. If that happens, Cruz proposes capping off the legislative flurry with President Donald Trump signing it into law on a football pre-game show this fall.
“I think it would be a win-win for everybody,” Cruz said after the Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act.
Currently, though, the House isn’t scheduled to return until the week after the midterm elections, the results of which could change opinions in a chamber that failed repeatedly to bring its own college-reform bill up for a vote.
“I’ve seen a lot of stories out there about what’s going to happen in the House,” said Randy Levine, the president of the New York Yankees and the vice chair of Trump’s Roundtable on Fixing College Sports. “I think what’s out there is all rumor.”