Excerpt From: WBTV. Written By: Chris Dyches.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has responded after North Carolina lawmakers filed a bill accusing the organization of “excessive lobbying” in the wake of House Bill 2.
The Athletic Associations Accountability Act, now labeled as House Bill 328 (HB328), was filed Monday evening by Republican Representative Mark Brody, from Union County.
The bill, if passed, would instruct leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives to file a tax-exempt organization complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) against both the NCAA and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
The complaint would allege that the organizations have “engaged in excessive lobbying activities.”
“Specifically, the NCAA and the ACC have exceeded the scope of their respective charters by using economic retaliation against the State of North Carolina for the purpose of forcing the General Assembly to adopt social legislation that is not connected to the core mission of either the NCAA or the ACC,” the proposed bill states.
According to the IRS website, nonprofit groups can’t have tax-exempt status “if a substantial part of its activities is attempting to influence legislation.” The groups “may engage in some lobbying, but too much lobbying activity risks loss of tax-exempt status.”
“The NCAA has not lobbied North Carolina lawmakers. All conversations that we’ve had with representatives in the state have been designed to provide information about our championships process and timeline, not take positions on legislation,” NCAA officials said in a statement Tuesday.
“When the Board of Governors moved championships from North Carolina last year, it was a clear response to state laws that local communities admitted would make it difficult to assure that our events could be held in an environment that was safe, healthy, and free from discrimination for all those watching and participating in our events,” the statement continued. “Our constitution and values commit us to respecting the dignity of every person. Our decisions reflect those values and our principles have not changed.”
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