(TNS) — A Pa. state representative announced new legislation Tuesday proposing changes to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association’s (PIAA) executive board following the state Supreme Court’s decision to rule the PIAA a public agency.
Rob Matzie’s (D–Beaver County) legislation would add Pennsylvania’s Education Secretary and lawmakers from the Pennsylvania Athletic Oversight Committee as permanent voting members of the PIAA executive board. Matzie is the current vice chairman and longest-serving member on the athletic oversight committee.
“The PIAA is a governmental entity,” Matzie said. “That was settled by the PA Supreme Court last week. It’s appropriate and necessary to bring accountability. Elected members of the legislature are tasked by the state Constitution to answer to and speak on behalf of the people of Pennsylvania. That includes, perhaps most importantly, our children and our schools and – by extension – those participating in junior and senior high sports.”
In January, Matzie announced legislation regarding how the PIAA classifies Pennsylvania’s 1,400 public, private and charter schools and suggested a law to “analyze the policy, practices, finances and structure of the PIAA with an eye toward overhauling how the association operates.”
Said Matzie: “This legislation has been in the works for some time, but I felt the time was now – based on recent correspondence the PIAA sent on the premise of defending their indefensible competition formula. In reality, the correspondence was a hit job on one school, my school, Aliquippa. It’s abundantly clear that the PIAA would prefer to double down rather than work toward a better system. Their current system is not working, and their evaluation process is, frankly, lazy.”
The Pa. Athletic Oversight Committee was established in 2004 and is made up of six members. Two of the committee members are chosen by the Pa. Speaker of the House, two are selected by the Pa. Senate President pro tempore, and the last two are appointed by the House of Representatives’ minority leader and the Senate’s minority leader.
