Campus recreation is specifically named in new congressional bill

On March 20, New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen introduced S.786, entitled “A bill to establish a grant program relating to the prevention of student and student athlete opioid misuse,” onto the Senate floor. The bill was read twice (meaning no objection was heard) and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

As Sen. Shaheen has noted, young people are particularly at risk for opioid misuse; this is especially true for young athletes who may injure themselves during sport or recreation and become addicted to the painkillers they’re prescribed. The significant threat that potential addition holds is hard to overstate—according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 50,000 Americans died from drug overdoses last year and prescription painkillers were responsible for 17,536 deaths (more than the number of deaths from heroin or gun homicides).

The proposed bill would look to focus in on education and prevention measures targeted at young athletes, from grade school through college, by providing an annual $10 million in grant money. The grants would fund prevention programs as well as training for teachers, coaches, administrators, and directors who work with this population.

Significantly, Sen. Shaheen recognized that students who participate in sport and active recreation—and thus are at risk for the types of injuries that might require a prescription drug—are not limited to those playing varsity athletics. With this in mind, Sen. Shaheen’s office reached out to NIRSA Headquarters directly to seek feedback on the bill and to ask for NIRSA’s support.

NIRSA HQ, in consultation with the Policy & Legislation Committee, provided input and agreed to support the bill. As a result, “club sports and recreation sports” and “directors of campus recreation” are called out in the text of the bill, which, according to Sen. Shaheen’s staff, is the first specific mention of campus recreation in legislation.

NIRSA will continue to track the progress of the bill and, should it become law, share information on the grant application process with members as soon as those details become available.