PA Senator Files Separate Suit Against NCAA
Jake Corman, a Pennsylvania state senator representing the area where Penn State is located sued the NCAA in a separate suit from Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s lawsuit. Unlike Corbett’s lawsuit, which seeks to set aside all NCAA sanctions against Penn State on antitrust grounds, Corman’s lawsuit focuses on the $60 million fine levied by the NCAA:
[Corman] contends that the NCAA’s plans to spend the $60 million are an illegal violation of his oversight role on state government spending.
“Even though the NCAA intends to wrest such a large sum of Pennsylvania public funds, it has refused to submit to any control by Pennsylvania elected officials and refused to commit more than 25 percent of those public funds to Pennsylvania causes,” Corman’s lawsuit said.
Essentially the argument appears to be that because the NCAA is spending money received from Penn State, and that money is public money, it must spend those funds with the oversight and consent of the Pennsylvania government.
Perhaps, as many (including me) have speculated, this is the “real” lawsuit of the two, and the main goal of the Pennsylvania government is to have as much of Penn State’s fine spent in Pennsylvania rather than nationwide. Without seeing the filing, it is hard to guess how strong Corman’s argument is, but it is definitely more narrowly targeted at a specific aspect of the NCAA’s handling of the Penn State case.