A bill that would allow the University of Colorado and other in-state institutions to provide financial compensation for student-athletes cleared another hurdle on Tuesday.

House Bill 1041 on student-athlete name, image and likeness (NIL) was adopted by the Colorado House of Representatives on Tuesday by a vote a 59-5.

The bill, which was co-sponsored by Rep. Lesley Smith, a former CU-Boulder regent, still needs to be passed by the Senate before going to Gov. Jared Polis for final approval to become a law. Senators Judy Amabile and James Coleman also sponsored the bill.

“It had pretty overwhelming support, with only five no’s, and it was bipartisan no’s, and now will go over to the Senate,” Smith said. “Since it’s the senate president (Coleman) who is one of the co-sponsors, and then Senator Amabile who, the CU Boulder campus is located in her district, I feel like it should go through pretty easily since everything’s been sort of vetted on our side of the house.”

Passage of House Bill 1041 would allow CU, Colorado State and other schools to provide NIL compensation for student-athletes. Under current Colorado law, schools and athletic associations are not allowed to pay student-athletes directly.

NCAA rules have prohibited schools and athletic associations from paying student-athletes as well, but in October, a judge granted preliminary approval of a settlement in the House vs. NCAA antitrust case. That will allow schools across the country to compensate student-athletes. Final approval is expected at a hearing on April 7.

Once the House vs. NCAA settlement is approved, NCAA schools that opt in may distribute up to about $20 million during the 2025-26 school year to their student-athletes through revenue sharing. The Big 12 Conference has mandated that all of its schools, including CU, opt in to the settlement.

In order to comply with the House settlement, CU and other in-state NCAA institutions need House Bill 1041 to become a law, and it is now well on its way.

As of Wednesday, the bill has not been scheduled for the Senate, but Smith is hopeful it will move quickly.

“I think this bill has had all sorts of things thrown at it, and especially for my first bill I feel pretty encouraged that we did good stakeholding, we tried to find a good middle ground and I’m really happy that I’m assuming it’s going to pass quickly because we’ve got the (April 7) deadline coming up,” Smith said. “At that point, the athletic directors of CU and CSU know what the rules will be, and then it’s going to help them with their negotiations when they start negotiating with student-athletes.”