Bill to require cash option at school athletic gates, remove old IHSA transfer language draws mixed reactions

House Bill 1064, presented March 26 in the Senate Education, Career and Development Committee, would require schools that offer extracurricular athletic events to provide a cash‑payment option at ticket gates and would remove an older statutory provision tied to interscholastic transfer language.

Representative Corey Criswell said the cash‑option provision responds to accessibility concerns: many attendees, including elderly relatives or families without electronic payment methods, rely on cash. Criswell noted a 90% compliance rate among schools based on an IHSA survey and framed the measure as filling a gap for the remaining schools.

Paul Naughty, commissioner of the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA), told the committee the association already requires host schools to accommodate cash buyers at state tournament sites. Naughty explained why some schools and athletic departments prefer not to accept cash at every event: cash handling adds staffing and reconciliation burdens, raises security and accounting concerns, and can expose student workers to cash management duties administrators sometimes avoid. He said the association tries to make accommodations and that most tickets at state tournaments are sold as cash. The IHSAA supported the idea that a person with cash should not be turned away, but Naughty also described practical reasons some schools limit cash handling.

On the transfer language, the proposed statutory cleanup would strike an older, seldom‑invoked provision from the code that dated to an earlier era of school‑funding and transfer rules. Naughty said the language was “archaic” and not routinely used in IHSA governance; the association and the bill sponsor worked on the strike language to align statute with current association practice and board‑approved bylaws. The association described its internal transfer-review process, appeals to its board of directors, and a state-level case review panel that provides oversight in contested transfer decisions.

Committee discussion ranged from support for accessibility to concerns about state mandates on local school operations. Several senators said decisions about ticketing and revenue collection are ordinarily made at the local school‑corporation level and urged caution about prescribing specific payment methods in statute. Senator Hundley and others said making events free would better address access concerns, while Senator Buchanan asked whether the requirement would obligate schools to accept every payment method.

Why it matters: Gate receipts fund many athletic‑department costs — transportation, officials, uniforms and event staffing — and local districts set policies to balance accessibility, safety and bookkeeping. The bill would add a statewide, statutory requirement for a cash option while also removing dated language related to transfers.

Outcome and next steps: The committee took testimony; no committee vote was recorded during the hearing. Senator Rotz said further conversations would follow; Representative Criswell and IHSA representatives indicated willingness to work with lawmakers on implementation details.

Quotes from the hearing: "If somebody walks in the door with a $20 bill, we should have an accommodation to make sure that we can accept that person into that contest," Paul Naughty, IHSAA commissioner, said. "I didn't want to walk a half mile back to my car in the rain," Representative Corey Criswell said when explaining an impetus for the cash‑option amendment.

Sources: Testimony from Representative Criswell and IHSAA Commissioner Paul Naughty. The committee recorded questions and discussion but did not adopt an amendment or move the bill during the hearing.