Six Lead Sponsors of Federal Youth Sports Bills Are Leaving Congress. None of the Bills Got Past Introduction, and All Expire Jan. 3

Six Lead Sponsors of Federal Youth Sports Bills Are Leaving Congress. None of the Bills Got Past Introduction, and All Expire Jan. 3

The midterms cost the STRONG Kids Act, the Youth Sports Facilities Act, the Presidential Fitness Test Act and three other youth sports bills their lead sponsors, per Youth Sports Business Report. All expire with the 119th Congress on Jan. 3, 2027.

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Six members of Congress who put their names at the top of youth sports bills will not be in Washington in January. None of the six bills they carried ever advanced past introduction, and every one of them expires when the 119th Congress ends on Jan. 3, 2027.

That is the accounting from Youth Sports Business Report, which published the rundown Nov. 5 and credited Sportico's Daniel Libit with first reporting it. Five of the departing sponsors are Republicans who lost on Nov. 3: Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas and Reps. Mike Lawler of New York, Mike Carey of Ohio, Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey and Bill Huizenga of Michigan. The sixth, Texas Democrat Marc Veasey, did not run again after redistricting moved his Fort Worth base out of his district. Michigan Advance reported Huizenga's loss to Democrat Sean McCann, 50.1 percent to 48.3.

The STRONG Kids Act and the Youth Sports Facilities Act

The two bills with the most direct money in them both lost a lead. The STRONG Kids Act (H.R. 9839), introduced in July by Carey and California Democrat Nanette Diaz Barragan, would have steered half of federal sports wagering excise tax revenue into HHS grants for youth sports providers, from $5 million national awards down to $10,000 local subgrants, with backing from the FundPlay Foundation, the YMCA and the National Recreation and Park Association. Barragan won reelection and is the only lead sponsor left. The Youth Sports Facilities Act (H.R. 2850), which would have made youth sports facilities eligible for Economic Development Administration grants, loses both House sponsors, Huizenga and Veasey. Its Senate twin, S. 1419 from Jon Ossoff and Todd Young, is the only version with a sponsor still in office.

Fitness Test, Tax Credits and a Caucus Down to One Chair

The Presidential Fitness Test Act (S. 3412 and H.R. 6604), which would have written the revived fitness test into law, loses both of its sponsors in Marshall and Van Drew. Lawler's Home Run for Kids Act, a $200 equipment tax credit, goes with him, as does his cosponsorship of Josh Gottheimer's PLAY Act. The PHIT Act, which would let health savings accounts cover youth league fees, keeps its sponsor in Pennsylvania's Mike Kelly, who won. Veasey's exit also leaves the Congressional Caucus on Youth Sports with one co-chair, Texas Republican Jake Ellzey.

Reintroduction in the 120th Congress would fall to the members who remain: Gottheimer, Barragan, Ossoff, Kelly and Senate sponsors John Thune and Chris Murphy on PHIT. FundPlay executive director Jared Cooper told YSBR youth sports access is "an area of bipartisan agreement." The bills' track record says the agreement has not yet produced a floor vote. More youth sports news is on BallerTube.