Just as LGBTQ groups are pressuring the NCAA to blacklist potential March Madness sites that require students to use the restroom matching their sex, North Carolina lawmakers are threatening the nonprofit from the other side.
A bill introduced by five lawmakers would require the Legislature to seek the revocation of the NCAA’s tax-exempt status through an IRS complaint, The News & Observer reports. It would also target the Atlantic Coast Conference.
They claim that the NCAA’s relocation of championships from North Carolina to different states – in response to HB 2, the “bathroom bill” law that requires people to use public restrooms that match the sex on their birth certificate – violates its nonprofit status:
According to the IRS website, a nonprofit group can’t have tax-exempt status “if a substantial part of its activities is attempting to influence legislation.” The group “may engage in some lobbying, but too much lobbying activity risks loss of tax-exempt status.” …
The new bill’s primary sponsor, Rep. Mark Brody of Monroe, had said on Facebook that he thinks the sports organizations “have stepped out of bounds.” The legislation includes a statement that “the taxpayers of North Carolina should not be required to support the NCAA’s and the ACC’s lobbying efforts against duly enacted state law through the organizations’ continued status as 501(c)(3) tax‑exempt organization.”
MORE: Let men who identify as men use women’s locker rooms, suggests NCAA
The bill ensnares university leaders as well:
While the chancellor of Duke University said he voted in favor of the [ACC championship-site] move, the chancellors of N.C. State and UNC-Chapel Hill refused to say how they voted, saying only that “it was a thoughtful and vigorous discussion and was not a unanimous vote.”
Brody’s bill would require any UNC system leader or staff member who serves on a board or committee for an intercollegiate athletic association, such as the ACC and NCAA, to disclose their votes – unless the vote involves a legal settlement or personnel matter.
That disclosure report would go the the UNC system president and Board of Governors, which would be required to notify state House and Senate committees if an employee doesn’t comply with the new requirement.
The NCAA claims that its decision did not count as lobbying, saying it only gave “information about our championships process” to lawmakers:
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.
MORE: LGBTQ groups want NCAA to limit tournaments to ‘inclusive’ sites
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