Earlier this month Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett announced he would file an antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA for how it planned to appropriate $60 million in fines against Penn State from the Jerry Sandusky case. Corbett said any fine money should remain in the state.
The state Senate today voted unanimously in favor of a bill that would require the fine money be spent on programs to prevent child abuse and help abuse victims in Pennsylvania.
State Senator John Yudichak (D-Luzerne) is a Penn State alum and believes the money should remain within the state.
“I think, making sure that we aggressively challenge the NCAA sanctions and aggressively challenge this specific decision to take that $60 million fine and spread it out all over the country which we think would certainly diminish its value,” he said.
The NCAA has said the money would go to child abuse programs across the country. Yudichak said the money should first go to those directly affected by Sandusky.
“We need to make sure first and foremost, that the victims of this scandal and any victim of child abuse in the state of Pennsylvania, that we put them first,” he said.
Yudichak notes the money isn't going anywhere until a solution is reached.
“There’s already been an injunction by the court so that none of the funding will be dispersed so that’s positive,” he said. “Senator [Jake Corman—sponsor of the bill] had filed a court action, and we’ll be watching closely as that goes through the judicial process.”
Penn State placed its first $12 million installment into an endowment in December and the NCAA has said it woulldn't touch the money until the lawsuit is settled.
He added that he felt the NCAA acted hastily.
“There was without a question a rush to judgment instead of a rush to the truth.”
The Senate-passed measure now heads to the state House for consideration.
