HOUSE BILL REPORT
HB 2016
As Amended by the Senate
BYRepresentatives Miller, Jacobsen, Spanel, Heavey, Wood, Belcher, H. Myers, Inslee, Rector, Hankins, Anderson, O'Brien, R. King, Valle, Winsley, Jesernig, P. King and Kremen
Requiring a conference on gender equity in athletics.
House Committe on Higher Education
Majority Report: Do pass. (12)
Signed by Representatives Jacobsen, Chair; Spanel, Vice Chair; Van Luven, Ranking Republican Member, Basich, Fraser, Heavey, Inslee, Jesernig, H. Myers, Prince, Rector and Wood.
House Staff:Susan Hosch (786-7120)
AS PASSED HOUSE MARCH 14, 1989
BACKGROUND:
During 1988, a House Subcommittee of the Higher Education and Education Committees studied the opportunities available to male and female athletes in high school and college. The Subcommittee found that, during the 1987-88 academic year, at state baccalaureate universities, female participants in intercollegiate athletic programs comprised 29 to 38 percent of the total. These women athletes comprised between 29 to 31 percent of the athletes receiving financial aid, and their programs received between 26 to 36 percent of the available funding. In contrast, young women competing in high school interscholastic competition comprised 39 percent of the participants.
The Subcommittee recommended the introduction of legislation that would encourage equitable intercollegiate athletic opportunities for male and female students. One of the recommended bills would direct the Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to sponsor a gender equity conference for persons involved in athletic programs.
SUMMARY:
The Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Superintendent of Public Instruction are directed to sponsor a gender equity in athletics conference in 1990. The conference will be held for the benefit of coaches, administrators, teachers, sports information personnel, people involved in community sports programs, the media, and others interested in intercollegiate and interscholastic athletic programs.
The purposes of the conference are outlined.
EFFECT OF SENATE AMENDMENTS: Under current law, the Superintendent of Public Instruction is required to adopt regulations and guidelines designed to eliminate sex discrimination in recreational and athletic activities offered to students in the K-12 schools. Current law is amended to ensure that the regulations permit schools to provide separate teams for each sex in grades four through 12 if two tests are met. First, the maintenance of separate teams must constitute the best method of providing both sexes with an equal opportunity to participate in the sports or games of their choice. In addition, a test of substantial equality between the two programs must be demonstrable.
Fiscal Note: Requested February 17, 1989.
House Committee ‑ Testified For: Marcia Saneholtz, Washington State University; Bob Maier, Washington Education Association; Jim Collier and Helen Remick, University of Washington; Lucinda Fernaud, Northwest Women's Law Center; Darlene Bailey and Dick Barrett, Eastern Washington University; Pat Thibaudeau, Washington Women United; and Stephanie Adams, Associated Students, Washington State University.
House Committee - Testified Against: None Presented.
House Committee - Testimony For: Women are underrepresented in intercollegiate and interscholastic athletics. A conference will help promote an understanding of the barriers that exist to equal participation by women, in athletics. The conference will also help bring people from the K-12 and higher education systems together to begin working on ways to increase women's athletic participation. Colorado, which has sponsored an annual equity and leadership conference for six years, has experienced significant improvements in efforts to increase athletic participation and coaching opportunities for women and minorities.
House Committee - Testimony Against: None Presented.
VOTE ON FINAL PASSAGE:
Yeas 97; Nay 1
Voting Nay: Representative Beck