Sponsors (4)
The bill aims to protect single-sex female athletic opportunities and shield students from direct tuition hikes by imposing a financial penalty on institutions that allow males in female-designated athletics, but it shifts substantial costs and compliance burdens onto private colleges, risks program cuts and revenue shifting that can harm students and donors, and creates legal uncertainty for transgender and nonbinary individuals.
Women and female athletes at private colleges: the bill creates a clear financial disincentive (a tax on institutions that allow males in female-designated athletics) that is likely to preserve single-sex female athletic opportunities.
Enrolled students at affected colleges: the bill bars colleges from raising tuition or mandatory fees to cover the tax, protecting students from direct tuition increases tied to the penalty.
Colleges, administrators, and federal enforcers: the bill provides statutory definitions of 'male', 'female', and 'sex', reducing ambiguity for applying and enforcing the tax provision.
Students, athletes, coaches, and athletics staff at private colleges: a new 10% tax on all athletic spending could force reductions in athletic programs, scholarships, staffing, and support services.
Students and campus programs: even though tuition increases to cover the tax are barred, colleges may cut programs or reallocate resources to absorb the tax, producing indirect costs and reduced opportunities for students.
Transgender and nonbinary students and institutions: the bill's sex definitions exclude gender identity, creating legal uncertainty and likely litigation risk that could limit participation and campus inclusion.
Based on analysis of 1 section of legislative text.
Imposes a 10% excise tax on eligible private colleges' total intercollegiate athletic expenditures when a person defined as male participates in female-designated collegiate sports and bans passing the tax to students.
Official title: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose an excise tax on certain institutions of higher education that allow male participation in female intercollegiate athletic programs or events.
Introduced August 13, 2026 by Harriet Hageman · Last progress August 13, 2026
Imposes a new 10% excise tax on eligible private colleges and universities’ total intercollegiate athletic expenditures for any taxable year in which a person defined as male participates in athletic programs or events designated for females. The measure defines sex as biological sex tied to reproductive systems and forbids taxed institutions from passing the tax to students through higher tuition or mandatory fees; the Department of Education must issue regulations to enforce that prohibition. The tax applies to eligible private institutions (per a statutory cross-reference) but excludes specified public state colleges and universities, and it takes effect for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.