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Democrats Defeat Souder's Amateur Athletics BillDems Bow to Trial Lawyers, Abandon Non-Profit Sports LeaguesDecember 5, 2006 U.S. Rep. Mark Souder expressed disappointment today that—at the behest of trial lawyers—House Democrats defeated H.R. 1176, the Nonprofit Athletic Organization Protection Act of 2006, which Souder had authored and introduced to help ensure that amateur athletics leagues don’t face prohibitively high insurance premiums over questionable lawsuits. The bill failed to achieve a two-thirds majority in the House, which would have been necessary for its passage under a special rule. “We did everything humanly possible to work with the Democrats on this bill and address any concerns that they had, and yet they were silent—until today when they simply objected to it,” Souder said. “It should now be apparent to any objective observer that the Democrats are not willing to protect amateur athletics from being bankrupted by questionable lawsuits—they are more concerned about the interests of trial lawyers who want to profit off of the likes of Little League. If current trends continue, many low-income families will not be able to afford the fees to allow their kids to play in amateur hockey, soccer, football, and baseball leagues. This legislation was designed to be bipartisan, and yet obviously the Democrats are not interested in bipartisanship.” At a congressional hearing in 2004, the Indiana-based National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) testified that, over the last three years, the annual liability insurance premiums for the NFHS have increased three-fold to about $1 million, with experts claiming that the premiums will likely increase significantly in years to come, threatening high school sports. Every single state athletic association supported the Souder bill. U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar is the sponsor of the companion legislation (S. 567) in the Senate. ###
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