The Missouri House gave final approval to a bill creating a state-run appellate body to oversee decisions made by the Missouri State High School Activities Association, passing the measure in a 92-39 vote April 30 despite criticism that it was an example of “government overreach.”
The legislation calls for a five-member board appointed by the governor and located within the state’s education department to give high school athletes and coaches a chance to appeal decisions on eligibility.
“This is going to be something that is going to be around for years to come, to ensure that our students have that right to appeal certain decisions made by MSHSAA,” state Rep. Bennie Cook, the bill’s House sponsor, said during the debate.
Cook, a Houston Republican, said he became interested in creating a state-run appeals board after the local high school’s volleyball team was forced to forfeit their title as district champions in 2023. Three players had participated in a charity tournament at Salem, breaking a MSHSAA rule barring athletes from participating in third-party competitions. The Houston School District took the matter to court, eventually regaining the team’s title.
Adding another level of recourse could prevent cases like this from going to court, said state Rep. Jim Murphy, a Republican from St. Louis County.
“We don’t need the courts getting involved,” he said. “We just need somebody who can, clear-eyed, make a decision of whether this was right or wrong for the children.”
Few Democrats supported the legislation, with some speaking against what they see as state intrusion into a private entity.
“This is a suppression of local control brought forward by a party who routinely tries to tell us that they’re here to represent local control,” said state Rep. Ian Mackey, a Democrat from St. Louis. “It is upsetting and even nauseating, as much as there has been a lot of work on this bill, to know the origins of it and where it started.”
Earlier in the legislative session, state senators proposed a version of the bill that would oversee payments between public schools and the activities association and take responsibility for appointing MSHSAA’s executive director.
The details of the bill were negotiated as the state simultaneously investigated the association for its policy that established two board positions reserved for members of an underrepresented gender or ethnicity. Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway is suing MSHSAA over the rule, labeling it discriminatory, and the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion to intervene at the beginning of April.
The lawsuit and lawmakers’ proposals have called into question MSHSAA’s status as a private entity.
Thursday, Cook referred to the activities association as a “quasi-governmental entity,” pointing to the organization’s acceptance of “taxpayer funding.” The association has repeatedly denied such characterizations.
MSHSAA said in a recent news release that it was “not created by statute, receives no state funding and is governed by a volunteer board selected by its public, private and charter member schools rather than by the state.”
State Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, a Columbia Democrat, pointed out during Thursday’s debate that MSHSAA did not receive direct funding from the state. Even so, nonprofits routinely receive one-time funding in the state’s budget while remaining independent, she said.
“This legislation is an outrageous overreach by the government on a private nonprofit, self-governed organization,” Steinhoff said.
Even with her concerns, she voted in favor of the bill to “put this to rest,” adding that the compromise brought the legislation to a better place.
“It does provide a level of oversight for the competitions for our high school athletes,” Steinhoff said. “Although I don’t think we need this bill.”
The bill now heads to the governor’s desk for his signature or veto.